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ASIA 


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I 


,AAiA*4^.i*, 


CORNELL 

UNIVERSITY 

LIBRARY 


THE 

CHARLES  WILLIAM  WASON 

COLLECTION  ON  CHINA 

AND  THE  CHINESE 


Cornell  University  Library 
VK   15.L92 


ill 


The  China  clippers  / 


3   1924  024   151    957 


Cornell  University 
Library 


The  original  of  tiiis  book  is  in 
tile  Cornell  University  Library. 

There  are  no  known  copyright  restrictions  in 
the  United  States  on  the  use  of  the  text. 


http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924024151957 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 


THE 

CHINA    CLIPPERS 


BY 


BASIL    LUBBOCK 

Author  of  "Round  the  Horn  Before  the  Mast" ;    "Jack  Derringer, 
a  Tale  of  Deep  Water" ;   and  "Deep  Sea  Warriors" 


WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS   AND   PLANS 


SECOND    EDITION 


GLASGOW 

JAMES    BROWN    6-    SON,    PUBLISHERS 

52  TO  58  Darnley  Street 


1914 


'Y 


DEDICATION. 


®c6icatc0  to:— 

"    .     .     .     The  sailor  of  the  sail,  breed  of  the  oaken  heart, 
Who  drew  the  world  together  and  spread  our  race  apart. 
Whose  conquests  are  the  measure  of  thrice  the  ocean's  girth. 
Whose  trophies  are  the  nations  that  necklace  half  the  earth. 
Lord  of  the  bnnt  and  gasket,  and  master  of  the  yard 
To  whom  no  land  was  distant  to  whom  no  sea  was  barred. " 


PREFACE. 

This  book  is  an  eftort  to  preserve  the  records  of  the 
most  perfect  type  of  sailing  ship  at  the  very  height 
of  its  development,  and  it  has  been  written  entirely 
for  sailors  and  those  who  are  interested  in  shipping. 
In  it  I  have  put  down  as  simply  as  possible  the 
personal  history  of  certain  ships  and  that  in  the 
plain  language  of  the  sea  without  any  attempt  to 
explain  technical  or  seafaring  terms  for  the  benefit 
of  the  landsman.  At  the  same  time  the  reader  must 
not  expect  to  find  highly-coloured  descriptions  of 
great  sea  adventures — the  adventures  are  there 
right  enough,  but  he  who  wishes  to  find  them  must 
search  deep  into  the  cold  print  of  bald  statements 
and  read  between  the  lines  by  the  light  of  his 
own  experience. 

The  material  gathered  together  in  this  book  has 
been  culled  from  countless  abstract  log  books,  as 
well  as  from  information  supplied  to  me,  not  only 
by  the  men  who  sailed  the  ships  but  also  by  their 
owners,  designers  and  builders. 

Indeed  I  have  to  thank  so  many  people  for  their 
heJp  that  a  page  of  print  would  not  contain  their 
names,  and  I  can  only  hope  that  this  book  may, 
perhaps,  recall  some  pleasant  sea  memories  and 
thus  in  some  slight  way  recompense  them  for  their 
kindness  and  trouble. 


JVeie.—When  the  word  mile  is  used  in  this  book,  the  sea-mile  or  6080 
feet  is  always  meant,  not  the  statute  or  land  mile  which  is  only  5280  feet. 


CONTENTS 


PART  I. 


The  Baltimore  Clippers      - 

I 

The  Opinm  Clippers 

3 

The  Falcon 

13 

Sylph  and  other  Pioneer  Opium  Clippers   - 

22 

American  Opium  Clippers  - 

23 

Later  British  Opium  Clippers 

■    33 

The  Early  China  Tea  Trade 

-    36 

The  Yankee  Clippers 

•    37 

Rainbow                   -             -                                                      -             - 

-    38 

Captain  Robert  H.  Waterman  and  Natchez 

39 

Sea  Witch  -                        

41 

The  Tragedy  of  the  ^a/rf£fl^/«      ... 

44 

American  Clippers  in  the  China  Trade  previous  to  1850 

49 

The  Boom  in  American  Clipper  Ship  building 

52 

American  Clipper  Ships  launched  1850-1851 

S8'59 

The  Surprise 

60 

The  Staghound 

-    62 

The  Witchcraft       ■ 

66 

The  Sea  Serpent     - 

67 

N.  B.  Palmer 

6S 

The  Flying  Cloud 

69 

The  Challenge 

76 

The  Comet ........ 

93 

The  Swordfish         -            -                         .... 

94 

Log  of  Clipper  Ship  Swordfish  from  San  Francisco  to  Shanghai 

96 

Flying  Fish                         -            -                        ... 

98 

The  Witch  of  the  Wave  and  Nightingale 

102 

American  Tea  Passages,  1851- 1853 

103,  104 

The  Rivalry  of  Great  Britain  and  America  in  the  Tea  Trade 

-  103 

The  Oriental  loads  Tea  for  the  British  Market 

106 

The  Aberdeen  Clipper  ^od«/         ..... 

-  108 

Stornaway  and  Chrysolite  - 

-  109 

Chrysolite's  Maiden  Voyage,  1851  - 

no 

CONTENTS 


PA8B 

117 
ii8 
ii8 


121 
121 


The  Challenge  of  the  American  Naifigation  Club  - 

Dicky  Green  and  the  Challenger    -  - 
The  Challenger  and  the  Challenge  - 
Witch  of  the  Wave's  Passage  Home  in  1852 
Race  between  Stomoway  and  Chrysolite 

Best  Tea  Passages  of  1852  -            -  '^3 

Cairngorm  •             -  ^ 

Tea  Passages  of  1853                       -  -                                                     '^5 

Lord  of  the  Isles  a.nA  Northfleet  ■                                        '^S 

Tea  Passages  of  1854  -                                                     -  1 28 

Nightingale's  Passage  in  1855  "  '^° 

British  Clippers  of  the  late  Fifties  -  -  129 

A  Yankee  Captain's  Cuteness  "  '3° 

£ate  Catnie  and  Fiery  Cross  •                'S' 

Robin  Hood  acA  Friar  Tuck  -                          -             •  13* 

Tea  Passages  of  1856  -                        -                            132 

Tea  Passages  of  1857  -  134 

Tea  Passages  of  1858  13S 

Race  between  Cairngorm  and  Lammermuir  •            -  136 

Ellen  Rodger  and  Ziba                   -  138 

Chaa-sze     -             •  -             -  138 

PART  II. 

The  Builders  and  Designers  of  the  Famous  Tea  Clippers               -  -  141 

The  Beauty  of  Steele's  Creations    -  143 

Pride  of  the  Clyde  Shipwrights       -  144 

Craze  for  Neatness  Aloft  in  Aberdeen  Ships  -  144 

Sail  Plans  of  the  Crack  Clippers     -  145 

Deck  Plans                                      -  149 

Dead  Rise  and  Ballasting               -  149 
Sheer           -                          .... 
Rigidity  of  Build    . 

Speed  of  Tea  Clippers  compared  with  the  Black  Bailers,  Yankee  Clippers, 

and  Later  Iron  Clippers 
Weatherliness  of  the  Tea  Clippers  - 
Therm^ipyUe  beating  to  Windward  - 
Weatherliness  of  Sir  Lancelot  and  Ariel 
Best  Day's  Rtm  of  a  British  Tea  Clipper 
Speed  of  the  Crack  Tea  Clippers  compared 
The  Handling  of  a  Tea  Clipper      - 
The  Owners 


ISO 
ISO 


151 
IS3 
IS3 
IS4 
iSS 

157 
160 


CONTENTS  xi 

PASE 

The  Captains          ...  -               162 

Roses  used  by  the  Captains  against  One  Another  .  -               164 

The  Pride  of  Captains  in  their  Ships  -            -  167 

Tea  Clipper  Crews  -  -            -               168 

Thermopylae s  Cock                                     -  -                        -  171 

Outward  and  Intermediate  Passages  173 

Life  on  the  Coast    .....  174 

The  Pilots  on  the  Coast — Chinese  and  European  -  -                            175 

Chinese  Pirates                                -                        -  -            -            -179 

Zon/ ^ofau/oy  and  the  Pirate  Lorchas      -  -            -               180 

The  Pirates  and  AriePs  Sampan  in  Hong  Kong  Harbour  -  181 

The  Looting  of  the  Young  Lockinvar         -            •  -                        -  183 

Cutting  out  Ballast  Lighters  at  Yokohama  in  1867  -            -               1S4 

To  Japan  against  the  N.E.  Monsoon                       -  -               186 

The  Tea  Ports        ...                         .  -               187 

Allowances  to  be  made  in  Calculating  the  Racing  Records  -               187 

The  Tea  Chests                                ....  -188 

Preparations  for  the  Race  Home  from  Foochow  -            -            -  189 

Loading  the  Tea                                          -            -  -                            191 

The  Falcon,  First  of  the  Improved  Clippers  193 

The  Tea  Race  of  1859        -  -  194 

The  Tea  Race  of  i860  -               195 

Fiery  Cross  •               196 

Flying  Spur            -            -  196 

The  Lord  Macauby            -  -               198 

The  Tea  Race  of  1861        -  I99 

The  Tea  Race  of  1862         -  -  200 

The  Tea  Race  of  1863        -                         -  ■  205 

Clipper  Ships  Launched  1861-1862                         -  205 

Serica  and  Taepitig            -                        -  -  206 

Black  Prince  and  BeUed  Will        -            -  -               206 

-  Composite  Construction                              -  -            -               207 

The  Tea  Race  of  1864  -            -            -  208 

The  Tea  Race  of  1865        -                        -  -           -  209 

TaeArUl  -                         -            -  -            -  211 

The  Sir  Lancelot    .            -       •     -            -  -  214 

5jy  Zaw«&/'i  Unfortunate  Maiden  Voyage            -  -            .  215 

The  Great  Tea  Race  of  1866           ...  -            -  217 

THania       .-•■-■  -  235 

Titanids  Disastrous  Passage  Out  in  1866-7            -  -            -  237 


xii  CONTENTS 

PAOB 

-  2*^9 

Sir  Lancelot  dismasted  on  her  Passage  Out  in  1866-7 

ArieVs  Record  Passage  Out  to  Hong  Kong  in  1866-7 

.  -  -  24s 

The  Tea  Race  of  1867 

The  Tea  Clippers  built  in  1867,  Spindrift,  Lahloo,  Leander,  and  Undine    259 
'^'^  262-263 

The  Tea  Race  of  1868 

-  274 
Thermopylae 

■  277 
Windhover  and  Katsow  -  ' 

The  Tea  Race  of  1869                     -  .            -            -  27 

Cutty  Sark-            -                          ■  -             -                2  3 

Outward  Passages  to  China  1869-70  •            •            "^97 

Norman  Court                     -             -  ...  297 

The  Caliph                                        ■  -             -  30 1 

Wylo,  Ambassador,  Erne  and  Osaka  %^ 

Oberon         -             -                          .  .             -             -                          -  303 

The  Tea  Race  of  1870  •               3^5 

The  Unlucky  Black  Adder  -  •            -  309 

Hallowe'en  -  ■                                     -            •  324 

Lothair  ■                                       -             -  326 

Outward  Passages  in  1870-71  -                         -                           327 

Tea  Passages  of  1 87 1  •                           33° 

The  China  Trade  in  1872                -  -                         -  332 

Tea  Passages  of  1872  -  333 

Norman  Court  in  a  Typhoon  334 

The  Race  between  Cutty  Sark  and  Thermopylae  -               339 

Tea  Trade  of  1873                           -  -                         -                         -346 

Best  Passages,  1874-1878,  Shanghai,  Foochow  and  Whampoa  to  London    351 

The  After-Life  of  the  Tea  Clippers  -                         ■            -            -  35^ 

APPENDIX 
Appendix  A — British  Tea  Clippers  -  -  ii-iv 

, ,        B — Sail  Plan  of  Tea  Clipper  Sir  Lancelot  .      v 

,,        C — Spar  Measurements  of  iVurwaw  C«K><  vi 

,,        D— Log  of  Thermopylae  on  her  Maiden  Voyage,  1868-1869        vii-.i 
,,        E— Abstract  Log  of  Hallowe'en,  Capt.  James  Watt,  Shanghai 

to  London  -  xi-xiv 

„        F— Complete  List  of  Thermopyla^s  Outward  and  Homeward 

Passages  under  the  Aberdeen  White  Star  House  Flag 

1868-1890  ...  .  rs 

„        G — Complete  List  of  Cutty  Sarins  Australian  Passages  xvi 

„        H— Abstract  Log  ot  Ariel,  Captain  Keay,  Foochow  to  London 

(1866).    From  Captain  Keay's  Private  Journal  xvii-xxxiii 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Taeping  and  Ariel  racing  up  Channel — Tea  Race,  1866    • 

PAGB 

Frontispiece 

Falcon — Opiam  Clipper      .... 

To  face  page    14 

Surprise      ... 

„             60 

Flying  Cloud 

..             70 

Flying  Fish 

98 

Lord  of  the  Isles      -            -                        -            - 

„            126 

Spirit  of  the  Age     ..... 

130 

Captain  John  Keay              .... 

162 

Captain  Anthony  Enright  .... 

162 

Captain  Richard  Robinson 

162 

House  Flags 

192 

Sir  Lancelot 

214 

Titania       ... 

236 

Lahloo 

,,            260 

Thermopylae  racing  with  Cutty  Sari 

272 

Spindrift                 -            .                         -            - 

»            272 

Thermopylae           -                        - 

274 

Cutty  Sark  - 

284 

Cutty  Sark  lying  in  Sydney  Harbour 

284 

Norman  Court        ..... 

298 

Deck  of  Cutty  Sark  in  1913— 

Mainmast  and  Midshiphonse,  looking  forward 

380 

Break  of  the  Poop       .... 

380 

PLANS 


Slaghaund  and  Flying  Cloud 

PAOB 

To  face  page     72 

Lord  of  the  Isles 

128 

Fiery  Cross,  No.  i 

132 

Midship  Section  of  Sir  Lancelot    • 

J49 

Model  of  Titania 

149 

Track  Chart  of  the  1866  Race,  and  Thermopylae's  Track, 

*, 

London  to  Melbourne,  1868-69 

234 

The  Lines  of  Leander  (with  stem  as  originally  designed)  - 

„            262 

Leander 

,,            264 

Thermopylae 

1,            276 

Cutty  Sarins  Jury  Rudder                .... 

342 

THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

PART    I 

O  fair  she  was  to  look  on,  as  some  spirit  of  thd  sea. 
When  she  raced  from  China,  homeward,  with  her  freight  of  fragrant  tea 
Aad  the  ^Ui^  swift  bonitd  sind  the  wide-Winged  albatross 
Claimed  kinship  with  the  clipper  beneath  the  Southern  Cross. 

Close-hauled,  with  shortened  canvas,  swift  and  plunging  she  could  sweep 
Through  the  gale  that  rose  to  bar  her  wild  pathway  on  the  deep  ; 
And  before  the  gale  blew  over,  half  her  drenched  and  driven  crew, 
To  the  tune  of  "  Reuben  Ranzo,"  hoisted  topsail  yards  anew. 

From  the  haven  of  the  present  she  has  cleared  and  slipped  away, 
Loaded  deep-  and  running  free  for  the  port  of  yesterday. 
And  the  cargo  that  she  carried,  ah  !  it  was  not  China  tea. 
She  took  with  her  all  the  glanSouf  and  romance  of  life  at  sea. 

— K.  Tardif. 

The  Baltimore  CUppers. 

I  HE  first  ships  that  were  ever  built  with 
speed  instead  of  carrying  capacity  as  the 
chief  desideratum  were  the  long,  low, 
flush-decked  Baltimore  brigs  and  schooners,  which 
by  reason  of  their  unusual  sailing  powers  became 
celebrated  the  world  over  under  the  name  of  the 
"Baltimore  Clippers." 

These  vessels  dated  from  as  far  back  as  the 
American  War  of  Independence,  many  of  them 
were  privateers,  still  more  of  them  were  slavers, 
whilst  not  a  few  ranged  the  Indies  with  the  dreaded 
skull    and    crossbones    flying    from    their     signal 


2  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

halliards.  These  Yankee  free-lances  were  wonder- 
fully  speedy  in  light  airs  and  in  turning  to  wind- 
ward; and,  carrying  as  they  did  large  desperate 
crews  and  heavy  armaments,  often  proved  them- 
selves more  than  a  match  for  the  tubby,  overmasted 
sloops  and  brigs  of  the  British  Navy. 

The  Baltimore  type  had  several  very  striking 
peculiarities  found  in  no  other  ships  of  the  same 
date.  It  is  supposed  to  have  first  originated  in 
St.  Michael's,  Talbot  County,  where  the  art  of 
shipbuilding  had  been  handed  down  from  father  to 
son  for  generations. 

Its  chief  features  were  great  beam,  placed  far 
forward,  giving  a  very  fine  run  from  a  high  bow 
with  plenty  of  sheer  to  a  low  stern.  Both  stem, 
sternpost  and  masts  were  unusually  raked,  and  it 
was  this  feature  in  the  masts  of  a  ship,  together 
with  a  low  freeboard,  which,  in  the  eyes  of  a 
stranger,  gave  immediate  cause  for  anxiety  and 
alarm,  for  any  vessel  described  by  the  lookout  as  "  a 
rakish  looking  craft"  was  at  once  suspected  of 
being  an  ocean  free-lance. 

Other  cbaracteristics  of  the  Baltimore  clipper 
were  long,  easy  water  lines,  with  nothing  concave 
about  them  like  those  of  the  later  American 
clippers,  great  dead  rise  at  the  midship  section,  and 
an  unusual  number  of  flying  kites  in  addition  to 
her  working  sails,  which  were,  of  course,  like  all 
American  sails  of  gleaming  cotton  duck. 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  3 

For  some  time  the  word  clipper  was  only  applied 
to  Baltimore  ships,  but  gradually  as  fast  ships  began 
to  be  built  in  other  ports  for  trades  in  which  speed 
was  of  great  importance^  these  also  were  called 
clippers,  though  none  of  these  later  clippers  in  the 
least  resembled  the  Baltimore  schooners,  with  the 
exception  perhaps  of  some  of  the  American  opium 
clippers,  which  certainly  did  show  many  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  Baltimore  model. 

The  Opium  Clippers. 

From  early  in  the  nineteenth  century  to  the 
late  seventies  three  distinct  types  of  fast  sailing 
ships  or  clippers  were  employed  in  the  China  trade. 
These  were  the  opium  clippers,  the  American  tea 
clippers  and  the  British  tea  clippers.  The  first 
dated  from  about  1830  to  1850,  the  second  from 
1846  to  i860,  and  the  last  from  1850  to  1875. 

Before  turning  to  the  great  China  tea  trade  and 
the  wonderful  ships  it  produced,  I  will  first  try  and 
convey  some  idea  of  the  opium  trade  and  its 
clippers. 

From  the  very  start  the  importation  of  opium 
into  China  was  entirely  against  the  decrees  and 
wishes  of  its  rulers,  who  knew  only  too  well  the 
harm  done  by  the  drug  to  all  who  fall  under 
its  influence.  And  those  enterprising  British, 
American  and  Farsee  firms  who  engaged  in  the 
opium  traffic  were  nothing  more  or  less  than 
smugglers,  smugglers  indeed  who  showed   greater 


4  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

daring    and    finer    seamanship    and    made    bigger 
profits  than  any  the  world  had  previously  known. 

I  have  no  intention  here  of  touching  upon  the 
morality  of  the  trade,  suffice  it  to  say  that  there  is 
more  than  a  little  truth  in  the  yarn  that  misfortune 
and  unhappiness  always  followed  those  who  had 
made  their  fortunes  in  opium. 

I  may  safely  say,  however,  that  the  opium  traffic 
did  this  much  good  :  it  produced  some  very  fine 
ships  and  it  trained  an  incomparable  race  of  seamen. 

For  such  a  hazardous  trade  swift  keels  were  a 
necessity.  At  the  close  of  the  Government  opium 
sales  in  India,  the  rich  dark  cakes  of  Patna  and  the 
shapely  balls  of  Benares,  which  composed  the  new 
crop,  were  shipped  into  small  clippers,  which  were 
specially  built  for  the  trade.  These  vessels  had  to 
make  the  passage  round  to  China  under  racing 
canvas  at  all  seasons  and  weathers,  and  especially 
during  the  strength  of  the  N.E.  monsoon,  when 
they  had  to  thrash  their  way  to  the  Chinese 
Ladrones  against  a  heavy  head  6ea  and  strong 
current,  either  in  the  open  or  by  the  Palawan 
Passage. 

At  Linton  or  Macao  they  generally  transhipped 
the  precious  drug  into  receiving  ships,  which  were 
as  a  rule  old  Indiamen  transformed  into  floating 
warehouses.       These    receiving    ships*    were    also 

*  In  1850  the  receiving  ships  at  Namoa  were  -.—Anonyma,  brig  ('formerly 

Colonel  Greville's  yacht),  Jardine  &  Co.,  and  Hon^  Kong,  barque,  Dent  &  Co. 

At  the  six  islands  near  Amoy  there  were: — LoM  Amherst,  barque,  Dent 


THE   CHINA    CUPPERS  5 

Stationary  grunboats  with  large  fighting  crews  in 
addition  to  staffs  of  schroffs  and  clerks  who 
attended  to  the  sales  and  other  business.  A  third 
class  of  smaller  vessel  fed  the  opium  from  these 
receiving  ships  to  other  clippers  stationed  along  the 
coast  between  Hainan  and  Woosung. 

This  fourth  class,  which  were  usually  the  pick  of 
the  lot,  had  the  duty  of  carrying  the  opium  to  places 
where  no  treaties  or  agents  existed.  Indeed,  theirs 
was  the  most  arduous,  if  most  exciting  task  of  all. 
They  had  to  meet  the  Chinese  opium  smugglers  in 
lonely  creeks  which  had  never  been  surveyed, 
knowing  that  these  same  smugglers  would  be  only 
too  ready  to  capture  their  clipper  if  given  the 
chance  or  to  loot  her  and  murder  her  crew  if  she 
stranded.  They  had  to  circumvent  the  wiles  of 
hostile  mandarins,  defend  themselves  not  only 
against  war  junks  but  fleets  of  Chinese  pirates ; 
weather  the  dreaded  typhoons  and,  if  damaged, 
refit  themselves  at  sea  ;  open  up  new  trade  with  far 
away  and  unknown  ports  ;  survey  new  coasts  and 
harbours,  carry  mails  and  despatches  and  even 
negotiate  treaties. 

In  such  a  perilous  trade  the  officers  had  to  be 
carefully  picked.  In  the  British  opium  clippers 
many  of  them  were  ex-naval  men,  but  there  was 

&  Co.;   Pathfinder,   barque,  Jardine   &   Co.;  Roydlist,   schooner  (formerly 
Rajah  Brooke's  yacht),  Syme,  Minn  &  Co. 

Besides  these  there  were  vessels  stationed  at  Foochow,  Woosung, 
Chinchew  and  in  the  Cap-Sing  Moon  Passage,  near  Hong  Kong,  both 
English' and  American. 


6  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

evidently  as  great  a  competition  for  the  appoint- 
ments as  there  was  for  the  service  of  the  old  "  John 
Company." 

An  officer,  who  served  aboard  the  Falcon,  most 
famous  of  all  the  clippers,  writes  : — 

"  The  officers  were  for  the  most  part  the  younger 
sons  of  good  families  at  home,  who  had  to  use  every 
effort  and  wait  long  to  fill  a  vacant  appointment, 
which  was  very  difficult  to  obtjiin,  as  applicants  had 
to  undergo  the  severest  tests  of  fitness,  both  mental 
and  physical.  Some  acquaintance  with  nautical 
astronomy  and  the  physical  sciences,  with  a  taste 
for  Eastern  languages  and  a  tongue  and  turn  for 
Eastern  colloquials ;  approved  physique,  steadiness 
and  courage  ;  reliability  of  temper,  with  the  higher 
moral  gifts  of  coolness  and  patience  under  trial  and 
provocation — all  these  were  essentials.  And  it  may 
be  remarked  that  among  the  officers  were  many 
sons  of  clergymen,  who,  after  a  period  of  active 
service  afloat,  would  retire  to  succeed  ultimately  to 
their  fathers'  livings  or  to  practise  at  the  bar,  not  a 
few  finding  their  way  into  Parliament." 

The  pay  was  enough  to  make  a  present-day 
sailor's  mouth  water.  The  captains,  if  they  suc- 
ceeded in  avoiding  capture,  very  soon  made 
fortunes  and  retired.  Each  officer  was  allowed 
his  own  Chinese  boy  or  body  servant,  whilst  the 
captain  had  his  butler  and  two  boys. 

The  clippers  carried  double  crews,  composed  of 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  7 

all  nationalities,  but  amongst  whom  were  always  to 
be  found  a  sprinkling  of  deserters  from  the  Royal 
Navy,  drawn  by  the  lure  of  high  pay  and  promise 
of  excitement.  Discipline  had,  of  course,  to  be 
very  strict ;  gun  and  cutlass  drill  formed  a  regular 
part  of  the  routine,  whilst  smartness  in  sail  handling 
was  a  matter  of  esprit  de  corps. 

The  chief  firms  engaged  in  the  trade  were  the 
British  firms  of  Jardine,  Matheson  &  Co.  and  Dent 
&  Co.,  whose  establishments  at  Hong  Kong  were 
on  the  most  magnificent  scale.  Russell  &  Co. 
represented  American  interests,  whilst  the  Parsee 
family  of  Bonajee  represented  Indian. 

The  opium  clippers  were  all  small  vessels,  mostly 
brigs  and  schooners,  with  a  few  barques  and  only 
one  ship,  the  celebrated  Falcon ;  but  size  was  not 
required,  for  their  only  cargo  was  opium  and  silver 
specie. 

An  opium  cargo  rarely  consisted  of  more  than 
two  or  three  hundred  chests,  which  were  exchanged 
for  silver,  usually  in  the  shape  of  Mexican  dollars 
but  sometimes  in  bars.  Occasionally,  at  out-of-the- 
way  places,  antique  ware  in  the  shape  of  vases  and 
ornaments  of  gold  or  silver  were  accepted  for 
opium,  and  in  this  way,  I  fear,  many  a  precious 
work  of  art  found  its  way  into  the  melting  pot. 

The  piratical  lorchas  were  always  on  the  lookout 
for  a  becalmed  opium  clipper,  for  whether  upward 
bound  with    the    drug    or   downward    bound  with 


8  T{m    GHIN4    CUPPERS 

specie  she  was  always  certain  to  be  a  rich  prize. 
But  in  order  to  overcome  this  danger  all  opium 
clippers  were  supplied  with  40-foot  sweeps  which 
were  run  out  of  th^  gun  ports  and,  with  six  men  to 
each,  would  send  a  schooner  along  3  to  4  knots 
with  ease. 

There  was  one  still  greater  danger  in  Chinese 
seas  than  the  pirate  and  that  was  the  typhoon. 
Captain  Anderson  gives  a  very  vivid  description  of 
a  typhoon  which  he  experienced  when  third  officer 
of  the  opium  schooner  Eamont. 

"The  JEamont  YfSi.s  bound  from  Hong  Kong  to 
Amoy.  At  10  p.m.  the  wind  was  abeam,  blow- 
ing off  the  land,  the  schooner  going  12  knots  with  a 
smooth  sea  and  not  a  cloud  in  the  sky,  At  11 
p.m.  the  wind  became  gusty,  dark  clouds  began 
to  form  ahead,  and  the  barometer  had  fallen  an  inch 
since  four  bells.  The  captain  was  called.  He  at 
once  kept  the  ship  off  the  land  3  points,  and  had  all 
hands  called  to  shorten  sail.  Whilst  the  topgallant 
sail  was  being  taken  in  and  the  yard  sent  down  on 
deck,  the  wind  was  increasing  in  noisy  gusts.  A 
bo's'n's  mate  and  eight  men  were  unable  to  secure 
the  gaff  topsail,  which  had  a  28-foot  yard,  and 
filling  like  a  balloon,  blew  clean  away.  And  before 
the  topsail  could  be  put  in  its  gaskets,  it  flew  away 
in  pieces  not  more  than  a  yard  or  two  in  size. 

"  I  a.m. — The  ship  was  scudding  under  stay  fore- 
sail and  half  the  fore  trysail,  the  lower  half  having 


THE    CHINA    GUPPEEt  9 

blown  away  whilst  the  sail  was  being  lowered. 
The  sea  was  now  a  mass  of  seething  foam,  the  rain 
fell  in  solid  spiral  columns  and  the  wind  was  blowing 
so  hard  in  the  squalls  that  the  ship  lay  down  under 
it  with  her  hatches  in  the  water.  Several  attempts 
were  made  to  bring  her  to,  but  each  time  she  was 
knocked  flat  with  her  cross-trees  barely,  clear  of  the 
smother  to  leeward.  The  barometer  was  27*80. 
The  two  lee  boats  and  davits  were  torn  away;  whilst 
the  weather  boats  were  smashed  to  pieces  against 
the  shoulders  of  the  davits  by  the  mere  force  of  the 
wind,  which  had  now  the  true  cyclone  howl. 

"4  a.m. — The  barometer  was  2 7 •50,  The  Chinese 
cooks  and  stewards  lay  about  in  the  wreckage  of 
the  saloon,  but  the  third  officer  and  two  quarter- 
masters managed  to  serve  out  a  stiff  glass  of  grog 
and  a  snack  of  grub  all  round. 

"The  wind  now  roared  heavier  than  the  crash  of  a 
battery  of  heavy  artillery  and  nothing  was  to  be 
seen  from  the  schooner  but  a  curtain  of  seething 
foam.  The  Eamont  scudded  three  times  round  the 
compass  in  an  hour, 

"  Daylight. — The  wind  made  it  impossible  to  go 
aloft  as  one  could  not  back  one's  feet  out  of  the 
ratlines.  The  four  lee  guns  chafed  through  their 
breechings  and  went  to  fit  a  frigate  for  Davy  Jones. 

"6  a.m. — The  squalls  came  up  every  quarter  of 
an  hour. 

"8  a.m. — The  squalls  came  up  every  ten  minutes. 


10  THE   CHINA    GLIPPERS 

"lo    a.m.— The    squalls    came    up    every    five 

minutes. 

"  Barometer  27-30.  The  carpenter  and  hands 
were  stationed  at  the  masts  and  weather  rigging 
with  axes,  ready  to  cut  away  at  the  order.  The 
square  foresail  which  hung  up  and  down  from  the 
slings  of  the  foreyard,  and  besides  having  four  pairs 
of  brails  was  secured  with  extra  lashings,  blew 
adrift,  filled  like  a  balloon  and  threatened  to  take 
the  foremast  out  of  her.  With  great  difficulty  it 
was  cut  away  from  the  yard. 

"II  a.m. — The  squalls  coming  up  in  such  rapid 
succession  that  it  seemed  to  be  one  long  dismal 
howl.  A  tremendous  squall  laid  her  flat  on  her 
broadside  with  the  cross-trees  in  the  water.  The 
captain  shouted  '  cut '  through  his  trumpet  to  the 
men  with  axes,  but  a  second  later  roared  '  Hold 
on,  all.'  In  that  moment  the  wind  and  rain  ceased 
as  if  by  magic,  the  ship  stood  up  becalmed  and 
began  to  jump  about  in  a  curious  turmoil  of  sea, 
which  was  running  in  every  direction.  Not  a 
breath  of  air  stirred  and  a  dense  misty  cloud  hung 
all  round  to  the  distance  of  about  2  miles.  The 
Eamont  was  caught  in  the  calm  centre  of  the 
cyclone. 

"1 1. 15  a.m. — A  new  fore  staysail  and  inner  jib 
were  got  up  and  bent. 

"11.30  a.m. — The  hands  were  starting  to  sway  up 
a    new  topsail  when    the  wind    came    again    in   a 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  11 

deafening  roar,  and  striking  the  schooner  on  the 
starboard  beam  (the  same  side  as  before,  luckily) 
sent  her  on  her  beam  ends,  the  new  fore  staysail 
and  jib  parting  their  sheets  with  reports  like  heavy 
guns  and  flying  away  into  space. 

"Noon. — Barometer  27-60.  Wind  south  on  star- 
board quarter,  ship's  head  N.E.,  ship  going  12 
knots.  Typhoon,  moving  to  westward,  enabled 
ship  to  be  brought  up  to  E.N.E. 

"3  p.m. — Wore  ship  and  set  course  N.W.  for 
Amoy. 

"6  p.m. — Set  topsail,  new  fore  trysail,  staysail 
and  jibs. 

"Sunset. — Land  sighted  about  18  miles  on  port 
beam. 

"Since  passing  through  the  centre  of  the  typhoon, 
the  Eamont  had  scudded  N.E.  about  40  miles,  then 
gone  course  40  miles,  so  that  when  madly  scudding 
round  the  centre  in  the  morning,  she  could  never 
have  been  more  than  12  miles  off  the  land." 

The  year  before  she  encountered  this  typhoon, 
the  Eamont  rode  one  out  off  Swatow,  hanging  to 
one  chain  with  150  fathoms  out  and  a  second 
anchor  backed  on  it  at  60  fathoms.  They  had  to 
cut  her  masts  away,  but  they  hung  the  wreckage 
astern  and  four  days  later  stepped  the  shortened 
masts  and,  setting  the  sails  double-reefed,  fetched 
Amoy  in  three  days.  I  will  give  one  more  instance 
of  an  opium   clipper  in  a  typhoon.       In  October, 


12  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

1848,  the  American  clipper-brig  Antelope,  Captain 
Watkins,  ran  into  a  typhoon  when  bound  from 
Shanghai  to  Hong  Kong,  and  the  following  is  her 
captain's  letter  to  his  owners  : — 

"  I  regret  to  inform  you  that  we  have  been  totally 
dismasted.  We  left  Woosung  on  the  5th  October 
in  fine  weather.  On  the  6th,  blowing  fresh  from 
the  easti  the  brig  going  large  1 2  knots  ;  at  6  o'clock 
we  double-reefed  the  topsails  and  furled  the  main- 
sail ;  at  midnight  took  in  close  reefs,  the  barometer 
at  29-35  ;  at  4  a.m.  furled  the  fore  topsail  and  sent 
down  topgallant  yards,  the  wind  and  sea  increasing, 
washed  away  both  quarter  boats  and  part  of  the 
hammock  rails.  I  was  compelled  to  keep  running 
so  as  to  get  sea-room  to  heave  to ;  the  wind  shifted 
to  north  and  blew  a  perfect  hurricane ;  barometer 
29"30.  At  3  p.m.  the  foresail  blew  away,  a 
dangerous  cross  sea  running.  At  4.30  p.m.  pre- 
pared to  heave  to,  every  aperture  was  carefully 
battened  down,  and  all  spare  spars  and  the  launch 
carefully  secured.  At  5  p.m.  rounded  to.  At  5.20 
a  furious  squall  and  she  went  over  on  her  beam 
«nds,  the  helm  being  no  longer  of  use,  she  fell  off 
in  the  trough  of  the  sea.  I  knew  that  if  she 
remained  so  she  must  go  down,  and  I  ordered  the 
masts  cut  away,  and  by  7  a.m.  we  were  clear  of  the 
wreck,  barometer  29-10  and  the  sea  making  a  clean 
breach  over  her.  On  the  8th,  at  7  a.m.,  let  go  the 
stream    anchor  and    the    kedge    in    21    fathoms    of 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  13 

water  in  order  to  try  and  get  her  head  to  the  wind. 
We  soon  drifted  into  12  fathoms  on  the  Formosa 
Banks,  still  blowing  heavy  and  the  sea  worse  than 
yesterday.  At  3  o'clock  drifted  into  rg  fathoms. 
At  8  p.m.  the  stream  and  kedge  were  lost  and  she 
fell  off,  bringing  the  wind  on  the  starboard  quarter. 
I  dared  not  let  go  a  bower  anchor,  for  in  the  event 
of  a  shift  of  wind  I  might  want  the  anchors.  At 
9  p.m.  still  blowing  a  heavy  gale.  At  midnight  the 
wind  came  round  to  S.E.,  barometer  29  "40. 

"On  the  loth,  at  4  a.m.,  wind  came  out  of  the 
S.W.  and  moderated  fast,  barometer  29*80.  At 
daylight  commenced  to  rig  jury  masts.  At  noon, 
calm,  and  by  9  p.m.  we  had  the  brig  under  snug 
working  canvas.  I  am  satisfied  that  if  the  Antelope 
had  not  been  one  of  the  best  built  vessels  afloat 
she  must  have  gone  to  Davy  Jones'  locker. 
When  we  left  Shanghai  she  was  a  perfect  picture ; 
we  arrived\  on  the  1 3th  and  since  then  seven  others 
have  arrived  in  a  similar  condition,  and  some  will 
never  be  heard  of " 

After    this    the    Antelope   was    re-rigged    as    a 
barque,  and  was  never  quite  the  same  vessel. 

I  will  now  turn  to  the  ships  themselves. 

The  "Falcon." 

The  celebrated  Falcon  was  the  only  ship- 
rigged  opium  clipper  that  I  know  of  This  vessel 
had  a  very  interesting  career.  She  was  built  by 
List,  of    Wootton    Creek,    near    Cowes,  and   was 


14  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

launched  on  loth  June,  1824,  her  owner  being  the 
Earl  of  Yarborough,  commodore  of  the  R.Y.S, 
She  was  built  regardless  of  expense  and  in  appear- 
ance resembled  a  20-gun  corvette.  The  Royal 
Yacht  Club  had  been  founded  with  more  serious 
objects  than  that  of  summer  yachting  inside  the  Isle 
of  Wight,  and  at  this  date  possessed  several  yachts 
fitted  as  men  of  war. 

It  is  related  of  Lord  Yarborough  that  he  paid  his 
yachting  crew  extra  wages  on  consideration  that 
they  conformed  to  the  regulations  of  the  Royal 
Navy.  One  of  these  regulations  justified  the  free 
use  of  the  cat  o'  nine  tails,  and  before  leaving 
Plymouth  for  a  Mediterranean  cruise  all  hands 
on  the  Falcon  signed  a  paper  setting  forth  the 
merits  of  a  sound  flogging  and  their  willingness 
to  undergo  it,  if  needful,  for  the  preservation  of 
discipline. 

The  Falcon  measured  351  tons,  and  while  owned 
by  Lord  Yarborough  mounted  a  broadside  of  eleven 
guns.  On  20th  October,  1827,  she  was  through 
the  thickest  part  of  the  action  of  Navarino,  her 
sporting  owner  flying  his  flag  as  Admiral  of  the  Isle 
of  Wight  at  the  main  and  his  commodore's  burgee 
at  the  fore.  For  some  years  Lord  Yarborough 
regularly  joined  the  cruise  of  the  experimental 
squadron,  whose  chief  object  was  to  test  the  speed 
of  new  ships  and  help  along  the  designing  of  fast 
and  seaworthy  men-of-war.     Thus  the  Falcon  tried 


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O 


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o 

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THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  15 

her  paces  with  the  last  of  our  wooden  men-of-war, 
and  proved  herself  a  difficult  vessel  to  pass.  In 
1835  Lord  Yarborough,  badly  injured  by  being 
thrown  across  a  sea  chest  in  a  gale  of  wind,  and 
further  disabled  by  an  attack  of  influenza,  decided  to 
sell  his  famous  vessel.  She  was  bought  by  a 
London  firm  for  ;i^5500.  They  fitted  her  with  two 
24-horse-power  engines  and  sent  her  out  under  sail 
to  Calcutta,  in  the  hopes  that  the  Government 
would  buy  her  for  use  in  the  Burmese  war. 

The  Falcon  sailed  from  Cowes  in  1836,  on  the 
day  that  the  King's  Cup  was  being  raced  for,  and  it 
was  with  great  regret  that  the  members  of  the 
Royal  Yacht  Club  watched  the  pride  of  the 
squadron  sail  away. 

On  her  arrival  at  Calcutta,  she  was  bought  by 
Jardine,  Matheson  &  Co.  They  removed  the 
engines  and  fitted  her  in  the  most  thorough  and 
expensive  manner  for  the  opium  trade. 

I  will  now  give  a  long  quotation,  with  apologies 
to  the  Yachtsman  from  which  it  was  taken.  Written 
by  an  officer  aboard  the  Falcon,  the  following  not 
only  gives  one  a  valuable  picture  of  the  ship  herself 
but  a  still  more  valuable  one  of  the  splendid  seamen 
who  served  aboard  her : — 

"With  a  bow  round  and  full  above  the  waterline, 
she  was  as  sharp  as  a  wedge  in  her  entrance  below. 
Her  midship  sections  gave  her  a  long  flat  floor, 
whence  commenced  a  clean  run  aft,  that,  with  her 


16  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

farm  of  entrance,  niinimised  resistance  and  displace- 
ment to  a  marvellous  degree.  Her  breadth  of 
beam  over  this  long  floor  enabled  her  to  stand  up 
under  a  more  than  ordinary  press  of  canvas,  while 
it  afforded  quarters  for  a  small  battery  of  guns,  includ- 
ing a  long  brass  piece  amidsMps  and  some  pivot  and 
swivels  over  bows,  counter  and  quarter,  that  made 
her  a  wholesome  terror  to  the  swarming  fleets  of 
pirates,  which  then  infested  the  Hok-keen  Coasts. 

"In  all  cases  of  bad  weather,  the  heaviest  of  these 
were  run  in  and  well  secured,  indeed  there  were 
times  and  occasions  when  the  whole  armament  was 
dismounted  and  put  under  hatches,  so  that  nothing 
should  encumber  the  spacious  white  flush  deck 
beyond  the  neat  coils  of  running  gear  placed  in  tubs 
mad^  for  the  occasion. 

"The  Falcon  was  a  full-rigged  ship,  heavily  but 
beautifully  masted,  as  to  rake  and  proportion.  Her 
yards  and  spars  were  of  dimensions  equal  to  a  ship 
of,  perhaps,  twice  the  size  in  actual  carrying  power 
in  the  ordinary  Mercantile  Marine.  These  were 
beautifully  fashioned  and  finished— not  in  the  tapered 
and  pointed  style  affected  by  traders  within  the 
tropics,  nor  of  the  dilettanti  in  the  summer  seas  at 
home,  but  in  a  style  that  savoured  rather  of  massive 
strength  and  utility.  There  was  no  skysail  or 
moonsail  or  flagstaff  extensions.  Our  masts  seldom 
went  more  than  a  few  inches  beyond  the  rigging 
that  supported  them. 


THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS  17 

"In  summer-like  weather  we  sent  up  topgallant 
and  royal  masts  in  one,  but  during  the  strength  of 
the  monsoons  and  in  all  passages  to  the  northward 
— and  we  sometimes  went  very  far  north — short 
topgallant  masts  were  fidded.  We  trusted  more  to 
spread  than  to  hoist ;  and  in  going  free  the  show  of 
canvas  upon  our  square-yards,  further  extended  by 
lengthy  stunsail  booms — in  the  rigging  out  of  which 
our  topmen  had  few  compeers — would  leave  an 
observer  in  no  doubt  of  the  immense  pressure  under 
which  the  comparatively  slight  and  beautiful  fabric 
trembled  and  vibrated  in  its  headlong  career. 

"  Our  spars  from  deck  to  truck  were,  or  had  been, 
modelled  by  rough  and  ready  artists,  in  the  persons 
of  our  carpenter  and  his  mates,  who  had  sometimes 
more  than  they  could  do  to  supply  our  frequent 
losses.  Famous  among  us  as  he  was — and  as  he 
deserved  to  be — our  carpenter  yielded  to  the 
superior  art  of  our  sailmaker.  Much  as  they  did  to 
enhance  each  others'  merits,  the  sailmaker  bore  the 
palm.  No  academician  ever  draped  a  classic  figure 
with  more  consummate  taste  and  art  than  that  with 
which  our  sailmaker  draped  the  Falcon.  Nothing 
in  still  life  could  be  more  picturesque  than  the 
Falcons  sails,  which,  unfurled  at  anchor  or  in  a 
calm  or  other  condition  of  repose,  fell  in  full,  heavy 
graceful  folds  from  her  yards  and  booms.  Nothing 
could  convey  so  strikingly  the  triumph  of  art,  when 
the  same  sails  were  filled  and  trimmed — full  and  by 


18  THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS 

— in  the  first  case  presenting  a  cloud  of  swelling 
segments,  pressing  forward  as  if  in  spirited  and 
living  rivalry ;  in  the  second  case  held  like  boards 
by  sheet,  tack,  brace  and  bowline,  the  rounded  luff 
and  foot  leaving  no  rift  twixt  spar  and  canvas ;  in 
both  cases  gladdening  and  satisfying  a  seaman's 
heart  and  eye. 

"  At  daylight  every  morning  there  was  a  general 
resetting  of  sails,  a  repointing  of  yards,  and  a 
'freshening  of  the  nip'  in  every  sheave.  Many 
watchful  eyes  and  ready  hands  were  on  the  alert, 
upon  these  and  similar  occasions,  to  make  the 
slightest  change  of  wind,  whether  in  force  or  in 
direction,  available  to  add  a  knot  to  the  coming 
day's  work. 

"  Long  as  I  have  lingered  in  my  description  of 
the  carpenter  and  sailmaker,  I  cannot  honestly 
proceed  further  without  a  word  in  praise  of  another 
deserving  petty  officer,  the  boatswain,  who,  with  a 
couple  of  mates  and  four  quartermasters,  had  come 
out  from  England  in  the  Falcon. 

"  The  boatswain  had  been  a  foreman  rigger  in  one 
of  the  great  commercial  docks  at  home,  where  his 
daily  practice  for  many  years  had  familiarised  him 
with  every  description  of  craft  of  every  possible  rig, 
and  with  fittings  and  refittings  to  suit  almost  every 
taste.  He  was  a  master  of  his  craft,  and  was  as 
intelligent  as  he  was  expert.  His  leading  peculiarity 
was  his  faculty  of  teaching  and  of  communicating  to 


THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS  19 

Others  not  only  the  mode,  but  the  philosophy  and 
the  spirit  and  beauty  of  his  own  gifts,  so  that 
the  three  years  that  we  had  spent  together  in  the 
Falcon  had  made  us  all  riggers. 

"All  able  seamen,  by  mere  use  of  the  term, 
profess  to  be  competent  to  '  hand,  reef  and  steer  and 
heave  the  lead ' ;  but  there  wasn't  a  seaman  on 
board  the  Falcon,  who  couldn't — besides  these 
requisites — turn  in  a  dead-eye,  gammon  a  bow- 
sprit, fish  a  broken  spar,  rig  a  purchase  of  any  given 
power,  knot,  point,  splice,  parcel  and  serve,  spinning 
his  own  yarn  or  lines,  of  such  length  and  dimensions 
as  could  be  adapted  to  the  power  of  our  winch  and 
rope-walk.  With  such  a  crew  the  state  of  our 
rigging,  stays,  backstays,  standing  and  running  gear 
and  fittings  may  be  accepted  as  most  perfect  and 
complete.  As  an  instance  of  the  capacity  of  the 
Falcons  crew,  I  may  state  that  we  have  stretched, 
cut  and  fitted  a  set  of  coir  lower  rigging  on  our  own 
decks  at  sea  ;  and  at  sea  we  have  placed  it  over  the 
naked  lower  mastheads,  and  set  it  up,  one  mast  at  a 
time,  completing  the  whole  work  in  three  days. 
And  at  sea  we  have  constructed  a  raft  of  spare 
spars,  and  transferred  to  it  our  guns,  stores  and 
much  of  our  ballast.  And  to  the  raft  so  loaded,  we 
have  hove  down  the  ship  and  repaired  and  cleaned 
the  copper  from  keel  to  bends  in  two  days.  Our 
crew  was  a  large  one,  I  admit,  sufficient  in  number 
to  make  three  strong  watches,  either  of  which  could 


20  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

reef  the  three  topsails  together.  But  I  would 
remind  my  nautical  reader  that  no  number— no 
mere  number — of  unskilled  or  undisciplined  men 
could  have  been  trusted  to  perform  tasks  so  onerous 
as  those  I  have  described.  If  I  am  asked  why  such 
feats  should  have  been  performed  at  all,  or  even 
attempted,  I  may  say  that  the  Falcon  was  always  at 
sea;  that  her  cruising  grounds  were  over  a  long 
extent  of  coast  that,  in  those  days,  swarmed  with 
pirates ;  that  it  afforded  no  place  of  shelter  where 
strangers  could  safely  enter;  that  the  whole  coast 
was  terra  incognita,  except  to  the  lawless,  rapacious 
natives  and  to  the  few  like  ourselves  who  had  spent 
many  years  in  its  navigation  in  all  weathers.  There 
were  no  steamers  in  those  days,  the  first  that  ever 
visited  China  was,  I  believe,  the  Jamesina  from 
Bombay.*  And  the  first  complete  survey  of  the 
coast  was  made  ten  years  after  this  date  by  Lieut. 
Collinson,  R.N.  He  did  the  most  of  his  work  in  an 
old  Calcutta  pilot  brig,  the  Plover,  and  did  it  well  in 
the  face  of  great  perils,  hardships  and  obstacles, 
writing  sailing  directions  and  calculating  and  com- 
piling marine  statistics  and  astronomical  data  of 
surpassing  accuracy  and  value. 

*When  \he  Jamesina  from  Bombay  entered  the  Canton  river,  and  had 
taken  her  pilot  on  board  at  Lintin,  as  was  the  old  custom,  and  was  being 
propelled  against  wind  and  tide,  the  pilot  gave  occasional  directions  to  the 
helmsman  as  if  the  ship  had  been  sailing  before  the  wind  and  with  the  tide  in 
her  favour  and  carefally  abstained  from  any  show  of  surprise  or  curiosity.  On 
the  captain  drawing  his  attention  to  a  fact  which  must  have  inwardly  aston- 
ished him,  he  coolly  replied  that  the  mode  of  propulsion  was  no  secret  in 
some  parts  of  the  empire,  where  it  had  once  prevailed,  but  had  then  fallen 
into  disuse. 


THE   CHINA   CUPPERS  21 

"I  hesitate  to  touch  upon  the  secondary  furnishings 
and  fittings  of  the  Falcon,  but  I  remember  that  they 
were  unusually  elegant  and  substantial  and  costly ; 
that  where  metal  was  employed  it  was  mostly  of 
copper  or  brass,  even  to  the  belaying  pins  ;  and  that 
toprails,  stanchions,  skylights,  and  coamings  were  of 
mahogany,  whilst  the  accommodation  below  for 
officers  and  crew  was  extravagantly  luxurious. 

"It  will  better  become  me  to  speak  of  her  higher 
and  greater  qualities,  qualities  which  made  her  an 
object  of  pride  and  real  affection,  as  of  the  tenderest 
care,  of  her  crew,  officers  and  men.  She  was  easy, 
handy,  and  smart  in  every  evolution.  She  swam 
like  a  duck,  and  steered  like  a  fish.  She  was  fast, 
yet  dry  ;  lively,  yet  stiff.  Sensitive  and  responsive 
to  every  yard  of  canvas  that  could  be  judiciously 
spread,  as  to  every  touch  of  the  braces,  tacks  and 
sheets,  and  to  every  spoke  of  the  wheel. 

"It  was  in  the  Falcon  that  I  learnt  to  comprehend 
and  to  adopt  a  singular  belief  that  prevails  among 
seamen ;  and  it  was  in  her,  and  by  her,  that  I  was 
first  touched  by  that  strange  sympathy  which  is 
created  by  a  favourite  ship  upon  the  minds  of  an 
appreciative  crew.  If  the  Falcon  had  been  a  living 
being  that  sympathy  could  scarcely  have  been 
greater.  She  would  resent  every  neglect  in  her 
handling,  and  rebel  at  once  against  any  over-pressure 
or  any  tampering  with  her  trim,  so  that  our  common 
expressions — expressions  that  could  have  no  mean- 


22  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

ing  to  a  landsman — that  she  was  complaining  or 
sulking  or  huffed  or  offended  seemed  to  us  to  be 
rightfully  applied. 

"One  felt  proud  to  watch  her  dealing  with 
opposing  forces  so  persistently  and  so  gallantly. 
We  had  been  afloat  in  her  for  upwards  of  three 
years  with  few  losses  and  fewer  changes  than  could 
have  been  expected  in  so  large  a  crew ;  and,  having 
watched  and  studied  her  pretty  ways  for  so  long  a 
period,  we  had  acquired  readiness  and  skill  in  her 
management,  and  had  learnt  to  look  upon  her  as  a 
thing  to  be  loved  and  petted.  '  She  can  do  every- 
thing but  speak '  was  a  common  remark  among  the 
crew." 

"Sylph"  and  Other  Pioneer  Opium  Clippers. 

One  of  the  most  celebrated  of  the  earlier 
opium  clippers  was  the  Sylph,  a  305 -ton  schooner, 
built  at  Calcutta  in  1831  for  the  Banajee  family. 
She  is  supposed  to  have  run  from  the  Sandheads  to 
Macao  in  sixteen  days.  During  the  Chinese  War 
of  1 841,  the  Commander-in-Chief  tried  hard  to  buy 
her  for  the  Navy,  but  her  owners  refused,  preferring 
rather  to  keep  her  carrying  opium  at  such  a  time, 
when  every  successful  cargo  run  meant  a  huge  profit. 
The  Sylph  and  another  well-known  clipper,  the 
Cowasjee  Family,  were  fitted  out  with  extra  guns 
and  full  European  crews  during  the  war,  and  were 
joined  by  the  Lady  Hayes,  belonging  to  Jardine, 
Matheson  &  Co.,  the  three  ships  sailing  in  company. 


THE   CHINA   CUPPERS  23 

Among  the  islands  they  were  surrounded  by 
Chinese  war  junks,  and  a  fierce  battle  ensued.  But 
Captains  Vice  and  Wallace,  of  the  Sylph  and 
Cowasjee  Family,  were  two  of  the  most  experienced 
captains  in  the  trade,  celebrated  for  their  daring  and 
success  in  dealing  with  pirates,  and  the  war  junks 
suffered  a  severe  defeat,  many  of  them  being  sunk ; 
after  which  the  opium  clippers  had  no  more  trouble. 
Amongst  the  contemporaries  of  the  Sylph  and 
Cowasjee  Family  the  best-known  clippers  were  the 
Jamesina,  382  tons  (formerly  H.M.S.  gun  brig 
Curlew) ;  the  Red  Rover,  a  barque  of  255  tons ; 
the  schooners  Rustomjee  Cowasjee,  Waterwitch, 
Mermaid,  and  Black  Joke  (formerly  a  slaver),  the 
Ernaad  and  Ternate,  old  East  India  Company 
cruisers ;  the  Forth,  Pearl,  Corsair,  Venus,  and 
Royal  Exchange. 

The  exciting  lives  of  these  vessels  would  make 
good  reading  if  they  could  only  be  exhumed  from 
the  old  log  books,  many  of  which  could  doubtless  be 
found  locked  away  in  the  carefully  preserved  sea 
chests  of  dead  and  gone  sea  captains. 

American  Opium  Clippers. 

The  first  American  opium  clipper  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  the  schooner  Anglona,  of  90 
tons,  built  by  Brown  &  Bell,  and  sent  out  in  1841 
for  Russell  &  Co.  She  was  followed  by  the  Ariel, 
of  90  tons,  Mazeppa,  of  175  tons,  and  the  Zephyr, 
of  1 50  tons,  in  the  following  year. 


24  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

The  Ariel  was  built  by  Sprague  &  James,  of 
Medford,  to  the  designs  of  Joseph  Lee.  She 
capsized  on  her  trial  trip  in  Boston  harbour,  and 
sank  in  7  fathoms.  On  being  raised,  8  feet  were 
cut  off  her  masts,  the  foremast  was  put  further  aft, 
and  a  false  keel,  8  inches  deep,  added. 

On  her  arrival  out  in  China  she  raced  round 
Lintin  from  Macao  Roads  against  the  Anglona. 
The  latter  had  the  best  of  it  beating  out,  but  in  the 
run  back  Ariel  gained  17  minutes,  and  won  the 
sporting  wager  of  1000  dollars. 

The  Zephyr  was  built  by  Samuel  Hall,  of  East 
Boston,  on  the  American  pilot  boat  model.  Though 
lightly  built,  like  most  American  ships,  of  American 
oak  and  elm,  she  was  beautifully  modelled  and  very 
heavily  sparred ;  and  she  carried  an  armament  of 
four  brass  18 -pounders  to  a  broadside,  a  brass 
i8-pounder  pivot  gun  on  the  foc's'le,  also  of  brass, 
and,  in  her  prime,  an  Armstrong  68 -pounder  on  a 
pivot  between  the  masts. 

Her  captain,  T.  M.  Johnson,  wrote  home  in 
1843  : — "  The  Zephyr  is  now  in  the  Taypa  with  loss 
of  main  boom,  fore-gaff,  and  jib.  I  was  caught  off 
the  Grand  Ladrone  in  a  gale  at  north-east.  She 
did  well  till  the  jib  was  lost,  and  we  beat  from  the 
Ladrone  to  here  under  double-reefed  sails  and  storm 
jib  quicker  than  anything  in  China  could  have  done 
it.  None  of  the  vessels  I  have  met  could  beat  her. 
On  the  wind  I  do  believe  there  is  not  anything  that 


THE   CHINA  CLIPPERS  25 

can  beat  her.  When  in  ballast  she  is  as  dry  as  any 
of  them.  In  smooth  water,  on  the  wind,  her  equal 
is  not  to  be  found  in  China  or  elsewhere,  in  my 
opinion.  Properly  ballasted  she  is  the  easiest  vessel 
I  was  ever  aboard  of." 

Two  other  celebrated  American  clippers  were  the 
brig  Antelope,  of  350  tons,  whose  experience  of  a 
cyclone  I  have  already  related,  and  the  barque 
Coquette,  of  450  tons. 

The  Antelope  made  the  passage  from  Calcutta  to 
Singapore  in  twelve  days  in  1844,  and  the  Coquette 
did  the  same  time  in  1845,  beating  such  well-known 
clippers  as  Red  Rover,  Rob  Roy,  Mischief,  Don 
Juan,  and  Kelpie,  and  reaching  Hong  Kong  in 
thirty  days.  The  Antelope  had  the  reputation  of 
being  one  of  the  few  square-rigged  vessels  of  that 
date  which  could  beat  through  the  Formosa  Channel 
against  the  strength  of  the  N.E,  monsoon. 

The  following  account  of  her  first  opium  run  I 
have  taken  from  an  American  book  of  voyages, 
which,  though  of  extraordinary  interest,  has  been 
long  forgotten  and  out  of  print : — 

"  There  was  just  then  lying  in  the  River  Hooghly 
one  of  the  prettiest  little  craft  that  was  ever  in  the 
opium  business.  She  was  called  the  Antelope,  and 
had  only  come  out  from  Boston  six  months  before. 
With  her  low,  black  hull,  tall  rakish  masts,  and 
square  yards,  she  was  a  regular  beauty,  just  such  a 
vessel  as  it  does  an  old  tar's  heart  good  to  set  eyes 


26  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

on— though,  for  the  matter  of  comfort,  keep  me  out 
of  them,  for  what  with  their  scrubbing  and  scouring 
in  port  and  their  carrying  on  sail  at  sea  to  make  a 
good  passage  and  half  drowning  the  crew,  there's 
very  little  peace  aboard  them.  We  went  aboard  to 
take  a  look  at  the  beauty,  and  before  we  left  her 
had  shipped  for  the  voyage.  The  captain  was  a 
lank  West  Indian,  a  nervous  creature,  who  looked 
as  though  he  never  was  quiet  for  a  moment,  even  in 
his  sleep,  and  we  afterwards  found  out  he  didn't 
belie  his  looks.  After  taking  a  cruise  around 
Calcutta  for  a  couple  of  days  we  went  on  board,  bag 
and  hammock  (for  no  chests  were  allowed  in  the 
forecastle).  Our  pay  was  to  be  80  rupees  per 
month  with  half  a  month's  advance. 

"  The  vessel  was  well  armed,  having  two  guns  on 
a  side  besides  a  Long  Tom  amidships.  Boarding 
pikes  were  arranged  in  great  plenty  on  a  rack 
around  the  main  mast,  and  the  large  arms  chest  on 
the  quarter-deck  was  well  supplied  with  pistols  and 
cutlasses.  We  were  fully  prepared  for  a  brush  with 
the  rascally  Chinese,  and  determined  not  to  be  put 
out  of  our  course  by  one  or  two  mandarin  boats. 

"We  sailed  up  the  river  some  miles  to  take  in 
our  chests  of  opium,  and,  having  them  safely  stowed 
under  hatches,  proceeded  to  sea.  With  a  steady 
wind  we  were  soon  outside  the  Sandheads.  The 
pilot  left  us,  and  we  crowded  on  all  sail,  with 
favouring  breezes  for  the  Straits  of  Malacca.      If 


THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS  27 

ever  a  vessel  had  canvas  piled  on  her  it  was  the 
Antelope.  Our  topsails  were  fully  large  enough  for 
a  vessel  of  double  her  tonnage.  We  carried  about 
all  the  flying  kites  that  a  vessel  of  her  rig  has  room 
for.  Skysails,  royal  studding  sails,  jib-o-jib,  stay- 
sails alow  and  aloft,  and  even  water  sails,  and 
save-alls  to  fit  beneath  the  foot  of  the  topsails. 

"  She  steered  like  a  top,  but  our  nervous  skipper, 
who  was  not  for  a  moment  day  or  night  at  rest,  but 
ever  driving  the  vessel,  had  one  of  those  compasses 
in  the  binnacle,  the  bottom  of  which,  being  out, 
shows  in  the  cabin  just  how  the  ship's  head  is  at  any 
moment.  Under  this  compass,  on  the  transom,  the 
old  man  used  to  lay  himself  down,  when  he 
pretended  to  sleep  (for  we  never  believed  that  he 
really  slept  a  wink) ;  and  the  vessel  could  not 
deviate  a  quarter  of  a  point  off  her  course,  or  while 
we  were  on  the  wind  the  royals  could  not  lift  in  the 
least,  before  he  was  upon  the  helmsman,  cursing 
and  swearing  like  a  trooper,  and  making  as  much 
fuss  as  though  she  had  yawed  a  point  each  way.  It 
was  the  season  of  the  south-west  monsoon,  and,  of 
course,  we  had  nearly  a  head  wind  down  through 
the  Malacca  Strait.  But  our  litde  craft  could  go  to 
windward,  making  a  long  tack  and  a  short  one 
nearly  as  fast  as  many  an  old  cotton  tub  can  go 
before  the  wind. 

"  Our  crew  consisted  of  seventeen  men,  all  stout 
able  fellows.      There  were  no  boys  to  handle  the 


28  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

light  sails,  and  it  was  sometimes  neck-breaking- 
work  to  shin  up  the  tall  royal  mast  when  skysails 
were  to  be  furled  or  royal  studd'nsail  gear  rove. 
We  had  but  little  to  do  on  board ;  to  mend  a  few 
sails  and  steer  the  vessel  was  the  sum  total  of  our 
duty.  On  board  these  ships  the  men  are  wanted 
mainly  to  work  ship  expeditiously  and  to  defend  her 
against  the  attacks  of  the  Chinese  officers,  whose 
duty,  but  ill  fulfilled,  it  was  to  prevent  the  smuggling 
of  opium  into  the  country.* 

"  Once  past  Singapore  we  had  a  fair  wind,  and, 
with  all  studding  sails  set,  made  a  straight  wake  for 
the  mouth  of  the  Canton  River.  As  we  neared  the 
Chinese  coast  preparations  were  made  for  repelling 
any  possible  attacks.  Cutlasses  were  placed  on  the 
quarter-deck  ready  for  use,  pistols  loaded,  and 
boarding  nettings  rigged  to  trice  up  between  the 
rigging  some  lo  feet  above  the  rail,  thus  materially 
obstructing  any  attempts  to  board  the  vessel  when 
they  were  triced  up. 

"It  did  not  take  our  little  clipper  many  days  to 
cross  the  China  Sea,  We  had  passed  the  Ass's 
Ears,  the  first  landfall  for  China-bound  vessels,  and 
were  just  among  the  Ladrone  Islands,  which  are  the 
great  stronghold  of  Chinese  pirates,  when  we  beheld 
starting  out  from  under  the  land  two  of  the  long 
mandarin  boats.  They  appeared  to  know  our  craft 
or  to  suspect  her  business,  for  they  steered  straight 

,.,*^'{'?  ^f  ^ff°«  *<=  fi"t  Chinese  War,  and  when  the  mandarins  were 
still  making  feeble  efforts  to  stop  the  opium  coming  into  the  country. 


THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS  29 

towards  us.  With  the  immense  force  they  have 
at  the  oars  it  did  not  take  them  long  to  get 
within  gun-shot  range,  which  was  no  sooner  the 
case  than  our  skipper,  taking  good  aim,  let  fly 
a  shot  from  Long  Tom  in  their  midst.  This 
evidence  of  our  readiness  for  them  took  them  all 
aback,  and  after  consulting  together  for  a  little, 
they  showed  themselves  to  be  possessed  of  the 
better  part  of  valour — prudence — by  retreating  to 
their  lurking  place  behind  the  land.  We  knew  that 
so  long  as  we  were  in  clear  water  and  had  a  good 
breeze,  there  was  but  little  to  be  feared  from  them. 
The  only  danger  was  in  case  we  should  be  be- 
calmed when  we  got  under  the  lee  of  the  land,  as 
they  would  be  keeping  a  constant  watch  upon  us 
and  in  such  case  would  make  a  desperate  rush  upon 
us  and  perhaps  capture  us  by  mere  superiority  of 
numbers.  As  may  be  imagined,  we  were  all  deter- 
mined to  defend  ourselves  to  the  last,  even  the 
black  cook  kept  his  largest  boiler  constantly  on  the 
galley  stove,  filled  with  boiling  water,  wherewith  to 
give  the  rascals  a  warm  salute  should  they 
endeavour  to  board. 

"What  we  feared  shortly  came  to  pass.  In  less 
than  two  hours  after  we  had  seen  the  boats,  we  lay 
becalmed  under  the  land.  The  little  vessel  was 
perfectly  unmanageable,  drifting  at  the  mercy  of  the 
current.  Had  we  been  far  enough  inshore  we 
should  have  anchored.     As  it  was,  we  could  neither 


30  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

anchor,  nor  could  we  manage  the  vessel  to  turn  -her 
broadside  towards  an  enemy. 

"  It  was  not  long  before  they  made  their  appear-^ 
ance.  They  had  in  the  meantime  obtained  re- 
inforcements, and  four  large  boats,  containing  from 
sixty  to  a  hundred  men  each,  now  shot  out  from 
under  the  land,  and  came  toward  us  with  rapid 
sweeps.  We  did  not  wait  for  them  to  come  to  close 
quarters,  but  sent  some  shots  at  them  from  Long 
Tom.  These,  however,  did  not  deter  them.  The 
calm  had  given  them  courage,  and  after  discharging 
their  swivels  at  us,  with  the  hope  of  crippling  the 
vessel  by  hitting  some  of  our  tophamper,  they 
rushed  to  the  onslaught, 

"  We  now  rapidly  triced  up  our  boarding  nettings, 
and  lying  down  under  shelter  of  the  lower  rail 
awaited  the  attack.  The  boarding  nettings  they 
were  evidently  unprepared  for,  as  at  the  sight  of 
them  they  made  a  short  halt.  This  the  old  man 
took  advantage  of,  and  taking  good  aim,  let  drive 
Long  Tom  at  them,  and  luckily  this  time  with  good 
effect,  knocking  a  hole  in  one  of  the  boats,  and 
evidently  wounding  some  of  her  crew.  Taking  this 
as  a  signal  to  advance,  and  leaving  the  disabled 
boat  to  shift  for  itself,  the  remaining  three  now 
rapidly  advanced  to  board.  Taking  advantage  of 
the  unmanageableness  of  our  vessel,  they  came 
down  immediately  ahead  to  board  us  oyer  the  bow, 
a  position  where,  they  well  knew,  they  were  secure 


THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS  31 

from  the  shot  of  our  two  light  guns,  which  could 
only  be  fired  from  the  broadside. 

"Cocking  our  pistols,  and  laying  the  boarding 
pikes  down  at  our  sides  ready  for  instant  use,  we 
waited  for  them.  Directly  twenty  or  thirty  leaped 
upon  the  low  bowsprit,  some  rushing  to  the  nettings 
with  knives  to  cut  an  entrance.  We  took  deliberate 
aim  and  fired,  about  a  dozen  falling  back  into  the 
boats  as  the  result  of  our  first  and  only  shot. 
Dropping  the  firearms  we  now  took  to  the  pikes 
and  rushed  to  the  bow.  Here  the  battle  was  for 
some  minutes  pretty  fierce,  and  a  rent  having  been 
made  in  the  boarding  net  the  Chinamen  rushed  to 
it  like  tigers,  but  as  fast  as  they  came  in  they  were 
piked  and  driven  back. 

"  Meantime  one  of  the  boats  had  silently  dropped 
alongside,  and  ere  we  were  aware  of  it,  her  crew 
were  boarding  us  in  the  rear.  But  here  the  doctor 
(the  cook)  was  prepared  for  them,  and  the  first  that 
showed  their  heads  above  the  rail  received  half  a 
bucket  full  of  scalding  water  in  their  faces,  which 
sent  them  back  to  their  boat  howling  with  pain. 

"'That's  it,  doctor,  give  it  to  them,'  shouted  the 
old  man,  who  seemed  to  be  quite  in  his  element, 
and  he  rushed  down  off  the  poop,  whither  he  had 
gone  for  a  moment  to  survey  the  contest,  and  taking 
a  bucketful  of  the  boiling  water  forward  threw  it  in 
among  the  Chinamen,  who  were  still  obstinately 
contesting  the  possession  of  the  bow.     With  a  howl 


32  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

of  mixed  pain  and  surprise  they  retreated,  and  we 
succeeded  in  fairly  driving  them  back  into  the 
boats. 

"A  portion  of  us  had  before  this  gone  to  the 
assistance  of  the  cook  and  had  succeeded  in  keeping 
them  at  bay  aft.  To  tell  the  truth,  the  hot  water 
frightened  them  more  than  anything  else,  and  the 
boat's  crew  alongside  required  all  the  urging  of 
their  mandarin  officer  to  make  them  charge  at  all. 
Luckily,  at  this  moment,  a  squall  which  had  been 
some  time  rising,  broke  upon  us,  and  the  brig  began 
to  forge  ahead  through  the  water.  With  a  shout  of 
victory  we  made  a  final  rush  at  our  assailants  and 
driving  them  back  into  their  boats,  cut  them  adrift, 
giving  the  one  alongside  a  parting  salute  of  half  a 
dozen  shots  in  her  bottom,  thrown  in  by  hand. 
Making  the  best  of  our  way  from  the  scene  of 
action,  we  steered  towards  Lintin  Bay,  where  we 
were  so  fortunate  as  to  meet  a  little  fleet  of  opium 
boats,  who  quickly  relieved  us  of  our  cargo,  and  we 
were  no  further  molested  by  the  mandarins,  who 
had  probably  gotten  a  surfeit  of  the  fighting." 

On  his  next  passage  Captain  Watkins  was  again 
attacked.  This  time  he  made  a  regular  example  of 
the  mandarin  boats,  and  after  running  down  two  of 
them,  and  drowning  their  crews,  sailed  into  Macao 
Roads  with  a  Chinaman  hanging  at  each  yardarm 
as  a  warning. 

These    fights,    of    course,    occurred    before    any 


THE    CHINA   CUPPERS  33 

receiving  ships  were  stationed  near  Lintin  Island, 
and  when  the  opium  clippers  had  to  tranship  the 
drug  into  Chinese  smuggling  boats.  And  it  was 
only  on  rare  occasions  that  cargoes  were  run 
without  fighting  with  the  authorities  in  the  shape  of 
the  mandarins. 

The  last  of  the  American  opium  clippers  were  the 
two  300-ton  schooners  Minna  and  Brenda,  built  by- 
George  Raynes,  of  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire, 
in  1 85 1. 

Later  British  Opium  Clippers. 

As  far  back  as  the  fifties  steamers  had  begun 
to  contest  the  opium  trade  with  the  clippers,  and 
another  ten  years  saw  the  end  of  these  famous  little 
ships. 

Of  the  later  British  clippers  the  most  notable 
were  the  schooners  Torrington,  Eamont,  and  Wild 
Dayrell  and  the  brig  Lanrick.  The  Torrington  is 
interesting  as  being  one  of  the  first  of  Alexander 
Hall's  clippers,  having  his  famous  Aberdeen  bow. 
She  was  built  in  1845  for  Jardine,  Matheson  &  Co., 
and  proved  a  great  success  as  a  sailer. 

The  Eamont  and  Wild  Dayrell  were  both  built 
by  White,  of  Cowes.  The  Eamont  was  constructed 
of  teak  and  mahogany,  measured  a  little  over  200 
tons  and  had  a  mainboom  i  ro  feet  long.  She  was  a 
very  powerful  vessel  and  carried  200  tons  of  iron 
kentledge  fitted  into  her  as  a  stationary  ballast. 

She  was  armed  with  four  i8-pounders  a  side  and 


34  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

two  pivot  guns,  like  the  Zephyr,  the  two  vessels 
belonging  to  Dent  &  Co.  During  the  Taeping 
Rebellion  the  Eamont  ran  up  to  the  threatened  city 
of  Ningpo,  passing  right  through  the  battle  of 
Chinhae,  which  was  being  waged  not  only  on  the 
banks  but  in  the  river  itself  At  Ningpo  she  found 
the  Zephyr.  The  two  schooners  loaded  up  with 
fugitive  celestials,  and  raced  each  other  back  to 
Woosung.  But  in  the  smooth  sheltered  water  of 
the  river,  and  with  a  fresh  whole  sail  breeze,  the 
Zephyr  ^^^  more  than  a  match  for  the  more  strongly 
built  Cowes  schooner.  However,  the  Eamont  had 
her  revenge  in  weather  more  to  her  choice.  The 
two  vessels  met  this  time  in  half  a  gale  of  wind  with 
a  heavy  sea  running,  and  the  Eamont  sailed  right 
dead  to  windward  of  the  Zephyr,  and  left  her  out  of 
sight  in  twelve  hours. 

The  Eamont  was  sent  on  some  very  dangerous 
trips.  She  was  one  of  the  first  vessels  to  open  up  a 
trade  with  Formosa,  and  made  the  first  survey  of 
the  port  of  Taku,  which  she  entered  by  bumping 
over  the  reef  in  spite  of  a  tremendous  surf  beating 
upon  it  at  the  time,  a  most  daring  performance. 
And  in  her  efforts  to  trade  with  the  savage 
Formosans  she  had  to  withstand  the  treacherous 
attack  of  hundreds  of  armed  natives  right  on  top  of 
a  typhoon,  which  she  succeeded  in  riding  out  on  her 
moorings.  But  the  captain  of  the  Eamont  was  a 
famous  fighting  man,  as  the  Chinese  pirates  knew 


THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS  35 

to  their  cost.  In  his  constant  encounters  with 
piratical  lorchas  Captain  Gulliver  made  use  of  a 
drag  sail,  with  which  he  would  suddenly  deaden  the 
way  of  his  schooner,  and  so  out-manoeuvre  these 
"Invincibles,"  as  they  called  themselves. 

The  Eamont  was  also  employed  in  the  negotiations 
for  the  first  commercial  treaty  with  Japan.  On  this 
occasion  she  ran  into  Nagasaki  and  quietly  dropped 
anchor,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  opposition  to  the 
proposed  commercial  treaty  was  very  strong  at  the 
time.  On  the  following  morning  150  boat-loads  of 
Japs  attempted  to  tow  her  to  sea,  being  evidently 
ignorant  of  an  anchor's  raison  <£etre.  But  though 
they  attempted  several  similar  methods  to  get  rid  of 
her  they  refrained  from  any  armed  attack,  and, 
eventually,  her  mission  was  completely  successful. 
This  was  in  1858,  and  the  Eamont' s  crew  saw  many 
wonderful  sights  in  that  ierra  incognita. 

The  Wild  Dayrell  was  a  very  similar  vessel  to 
the  Eamont.  Her  illustration  in  the  Illustrated 
London  News  of  1855  shows  a  rakish  top  gallant 
yard  schooner  carrying  four  headsails  on  a  very 
long  jibboom. 

Her  measurements  were  : — 

Length  over  all  I03'3  feet.  Tonnage  (old  measurement)  253  tons. 

Beam  237    ,,  Tonnage  (new measurement)  158  tons. 

Depth  13-3    „ 

The  Eanrick  was  a  beautiful  little  clipper  brig, 
belonging  to  Jardine,  Matheson,  and  named  after 
Andrew    Jardine's    place,     Lanrick    Castle.       She 


36  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

mounted  a  broadside  of  five  guns  besides  the  mid- 
ship and  foc's'le  head  pivot  Long  Toms.  She 
carried  the  drug  between  Calcutta  and  the  Chinese 
ports  ;  and  raced  against  the  Antelope  and  Coquette 
with  varying  results. 

After  this  short  account  of  the  opium  trade  and 
its  clippers  I  will  now  turn  to  China's  still  more 
important  tea  trade. 

The  Early  China  Tea  Trade. 

Until  the  expiration  of  the  company's  charter 
in  1834,  the  tea  trade  was  entirely  in  the  hands  of 
the  East  India  Company.  The  tea  was  brought  to 
England  together  with  silk  and  other  Chinese 
commodities  in  slow  East  Indiamen,  which,  from 
their  lack  of  sailing  power,  were  known  as  "tea 
waggons."  And  it  was  not  until  their  charter  was 
nearly  expired  that  the  East  India  Company  began 
to  build  ships  that  could  move  through  the  water. 
However,  in  1831-2  I  find  the  following  good  times 
made  by  East  Indianien  : — 

The  Thames  left  Canton  iSth  Nov.,  1831 

passed  Java  Head  5th  Dec,  1831 
arrived  St.  Helena  28th  Jan.,  1832 
arrived  Portland  13th  March,  1832 
115  days  passage. 
Bttckinghamshire  left  Canton  31st  Oct.,  1831,  off  Lizard  igth  Feb.,  1832. 
Waterloo  left  Canton  31st  Oct.,  1831,  off  Lizard  19th  Feb.,  1832. 
121  days'  passage. 

This  is  not  bad  work,  and  quite  equal  to  that  of  the 
East  India  Company's  successors  up  to  the  time  of 
the  American  and  Aberdeen  clippers. 

Until  well  into  the  forties  the  tea  trade  was  quite 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  37 

small,  and  vessels  of  anything  over  500  tons  found 
a  difficulty  in  filling  their  holds,  but  after  that  date, 
as  new  treaty  ports  were  opened,  the  tea  grew  more 
plentiful  and  the  tea  ships  began  to  increase  both  in 
size  and  numbers.  The  first  out-and-out  clipper 
ships  to  visit  the  China  Seas  were  Americans. 
They  began  to  load  tea  in  Canton  in  the  early 
forties,  and  made  racing  passages  back  to  New 
York  and  Boston.  And  they  were  running  between 
China  and  the  United  States  for  some  seven  years 
before  the  first  bona  fide  British  clipper  appeared  in 
the  East. 

The  American  clipper,  evolved  in  part  from  the 
Baltimore  clipper,  bore  no  resemblance  to  the 
British  clipper,  each  having  its  own  particular 
beauty  and  merits. 

The  Yankee  Clippers. 

The  great  characteristic  of  the  Baltimore 
model  was  the  Baltimore  bow.  With  this  as  his 
starting  point,  John  Griffith,  of  New  York,  began, 
in  1 84 1,  a  series  of  lectures  on  the  science  of  ship 
designing,  and  advocated  some  very  radical  altera- 
tions in  the  lines  and  proportions  of  sea-going 
vessels.  He  also  exhibited  at  the  American 
Institute  the  model  of  a  clipper  built  according  to 
his  theories.  Though  a  great  deal  of  scepticism 
and  ridicule  was  showered  upon  his  arguments  he 
so  far  prevailed  that,  in  1843,  the  firm  of  Rowland 
&  Aspinwall  commissioned  Smith  &  Dimon,  whose 


38  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

draughtsman  Griffith  had  been,  to  build  them  an 
experimental  ship  on  the  new  model. 

"  Rainbow." 

This    vessel    was     the     Rainbow,     of    750 

tons,  celebrated  as  the  first  of  the  great  Yankee 
clippers.  She  cost  22,500  dollars  to  build,  or  at  the 
rate  of  30  dollars  a  ton.  Whilst  she  was  on  the 
stocks  controversy  raged  round  her.  Some  declared, 
alluding  to  her  concave  bow  lines,  that  she  was 
turned  "inside  out,"  and  was  on  that  account 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  Nature.  Others  admitted 
her  good  looks,  but  doubted  if  she  could  be  made  to 
sail.  The  chief  innovation  in  her  design  was  the 
sharpness  of  her  ends.  Instead  of  the  full  barrel- 
shaped  bow,  with  the  cutwater  and  figurehead 
projecting  beyond  the  stem  in  what  was  poetically 
termed  in  old  naval  architecture  "  the  sweep  of  the 
lion,"  she  had  a  long,  sharp,  knife-like  entrance  with 
concave  water  lines,  which  carried  her  greatest 
breadth  of  beam  very  much  further  aft  than  was 
usual ;  and  the  heavy  quarters  and  lumping  stern 
were  lightened  and  relieved  by  rounding  up  the 
ends  of  the  main  transom,  She  had  an  unheard  of 
amount  of  dead-rise,  and  was  far  more  wall-sided 
than  any  vessel  of  her  date.  As  to  her  proportions, 
she  was  given  more  beams  to  length  than  was 
considered  safe  by  old  salts. 

The  Rainbow  was  launched  in  January,  1845,  and; 
was  not  long  in  proving  a  success.     She  did  her 


THE   CHINA    CUPPERS  39 

best  work  on  her  second  voyage  to  China,  when  she 
went  out  to  Canton  and  back  in  6  months  14 
days,  leaving  New  York  on  ist  October,  1845,  she 
was  back  again  in  New  York  in  April,  1846.  She 
went  out  in  92  days  and  came  home  in  88  bringing 
to  New  York  the  news  of  her  own  arrival  in  the 
East. 

Her  commander.  Captain  John  Land,  who  after- 
wards had  the  honour  of  a  well-known  clipper  being 
named  after  him,  was  delighted  with  the  Rainbow's 
qualities,  and  went  about  declaring  that  not  only 
was  she  the  fastest  ship  afloat,  but  that  no  ship  could 
be  built  to  beat  her. 

Rainbow  is  supposed  to  have  foundered  off  the 
Horn  in  1848,  whilst  bound  from  New  York  to 
Valparaiso  under  Captain  Hayes.  But  though  her 
life  was  a  short  one,  she  had  done  her  work  by 
starting  a  fleet  of  clipper  ships  which  raised 
America  to  the  level  of  Great  Britain  among 
maritime  nations. 

Captain  Robert  H.  Waterman  and  "Natchez." 

Whilst  Captain  Land  was  earning  fame  by 
his  China  passages  in  the  Rainbow,  another  of 
Aspinwall's  captains,  Robert  H.  Waterman,  was 
doing  the  like  in  a  very  different  type  of  vessel,  the 
Natchez,  one  of  the  first  New  Orleans  packets,  built 
by  Isaac  Webb,  of  New  York,  as  far  back  as  1831. 

She  was  one  of  the  first  ships  to  be  built  in 
America   with    a    full    poop,   and   was   a    shallow- 


40  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

draught  vessel  with  the  old-fashioned  flat  bottom 
necessary  in  New  Orleans  packets  before  Captain 
Ends  removed  the  Mississippi  bar.  This  ship, 
which  had  been  noted  on  the  Atlantic  as  a  heavy 
sailing  sluggard,  as  soon  as  she  was  acquired  by 
Aspinwall  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  young  Bob 
Waterman,  began  a  series  of  performances  which 
were  hailed  by  those  who  knew  her  as  nothing 
short  of  marvellous. 

On  his  first  trip  Waterman  took  her  to  the  West 
Coast  of  South  America,  then  to  Canton,  where  he 
loaded  tea  for  New  York.  He  accomplished  the 
whole  voyage  in  9  months  26  days  and  the 
passage  home  from  China  in  94  days.  On 
his  second  voyage  in  1844,  Waterman  made 
Valparaiso  in  71  days,  went  up  to  Callao  in  8  days, 
and  drove  the  Natchez  across  to  Hong  Kong  in 
54  days.  On  15th  January,  1845,  ^^  sailed  from 
the  Island  of  Patoe,  near  Macao,  tea  laden;  rounded 
the  Cape  39  days  out ;  crossed  the  line  61  days  out 
in  longitude  3i|-  degrees;  made  the  run  from  the 
equator  to  New  York  in  17^  days,  and  took  his 
pilot  off  Barnegat  on  3rd  April  at  6  p.m.,  having 
sailed  13,955  ™iles  in  78  days  6  hours  without 
having  to  tack  once.  The  Natchez  sailed  her  best 
in  light  winds,  her  best  day's  run  being  276  miles. 
On  his  last  voyage  on  the  Ncitchez  Waterman  took 
her  out  direct  to  Hong  Kong  in  104  days  and 
brought  her  home  in  83  days. 


THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS  41 

After  such  voyages  as  these  in  a  vessel  whose 
previous  reputation  for  speed  had  been  an  unusually 
bad  one,  it  was  only  natural  that  young  Bully 
Waterman  should  be  considered  one  of  the  smartest 
skippers  in  the  American  Mercantile  Marine,  and 
Aspinwall  determined  to  give  his  crack  captain  a 
new  ship,  which  it  was  hoped  would  be  an  improved 
Rainbow. 

«Sea  Witch." 

The  result  was  the  celebrated  Sea  Witch,  a 
vessel  which  raised  almost  more  of  a  stir  in  nautical 
circles  than  Rainbow  had  done.  She  was  built  by 
Smith  &  Dimon,  of  New  York,  the  following  being 
the  details  of  her  cost : — 

For  laying  down,  making  moulds,  working  out,  putting!     »    ooo-ca 

together  frame,  raising  and  regulating  -  -/    *  ''°°  3 

For  putting  in  lower  deck  and  ceiling 


For  putting  in  wales  and  bottom 
For  sawing  ... 

For  all  other  carpenter's  work  not  incl 
fitting  ship  for  sea 


1250 
700 
1500 
uded  above  \xC\ 


'"}      5.388-47 
Total    $11,738-89 


Wages  at  the  time  were  two  dollars  per  10-hour  day. 
Her  chief  measurements  were  : — 

Registered  tonnage  (American)  ...  907  |f  tons. 

„         Length  -  -  -  -  -  170  ft.    3  ins. 

„         beam     -  -  -  -  -  33  ft.  11  ins. 

„         depth     -  -  -  19  ft. 

Capacity  for  cargo  -  -  -  1 100  tons. 

Captain  Waterman  himself  superintended  every 
detail  of  her  outfit,  especially  when  it  came  to 
rigging  work.  He  saw  to  it  that  she  was  fitted 
with   skysails,    royal    studding   sails,    square    lower 


42  THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS 

Studding  sails  with  swinging  booms,  ringtails  and 
other  flying  kites. 

In  appearance  the  Sea  Witch  must  have  been  a 
very  handsome  vessel ;  indeed,  when  she  sailed  out 
of  New  York  on  her  maiden  voyage,  she  was 
admitted  to  be  the  most  beautiful  ship  under  the 
Stars  and  Stripes. 

She  had  the  low  freeboard  and  raking  masts  of 
the  Baltimore  type,  with  considerable  sheer,  one  of 
the  outstanding  features  of  the  Yankee  clipper 
design.  Though  a  square-sterned  ship  she  was 
built  without  a  stern  frame. 

The  new  clipper  was  painted  black  with  the  old- 
fashioned  American  bright  stripe,  and,  as  she  was 
intended  for  the  tea  trade,  she  was  given  an 
immense  gilded  Chinese  dragon  for  a  figurehead. 
The  trailing  tail  of  this  dragon  gave  emphasis  to 
her  long  hollow  bow,  which  was  a  still  further 
advance  on  that  of  Rainbow.  Sea  Witch  had  a 
sharp  rise  of  floor  (i6  degrees  it  is  said) ;  she 
required  a  deal  of  ballast,  indeed  it  is  probable  that 
she  was  somewhat  overmasted,  for  she  was  noted 
for  her  heavy  rolling  and  there  was  more  than  a 
whisper  that  she  was  unstable. 

With  a  carefully  picked  crew,  she  left  New  York 
on  the  23rd  December,  1846.  A  strong  nor'-west 
gale  was  blowing,  which  gave  her  an  excellent  start 
in  life,  and  she  ran  down  to  the  latitude  of  Rio  in 
25  days.     Here  she  spoke  the  shore  and  sent  letters 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  43 

back  by  a  homeward  bounder.  Sea  Witch  in  the 
hands  of  Bully  Waterman  soon  proved  herself  to 
be  an  exceptional  vessel  altogether,  and  her  records 
have  been  found  very  hard  to  beat. 

Below  I  give  the  times  of  her  first  seven  voyages. 

First  voyage  (commanded  by  Captain  Robert  H.  Waterman). 
From.  To.        Days  Cut.  Remarks. 

New  York      Hong  Kong        104     Left  New  York,  23rd  December,  1846. 

Canton  New  York  81     OflF  Anjer  19  days  out ;  arrived  25th  July, 

1847. 
Second  voyage  (commanded  by  Captain  Robert  H.  Waterman). 

New  York      Hong  Kong        105     Arrived  7th  November,  1847. 

Canton  New  York  78    Left  China  29th  Dec;  arrived  Anjer,  8th 

Jan.  Best  run  284 ;  passed  Cape  3rd 
Feb.,  36 i  days  out ;  best  run  289  in  lat. 
iSy,  long.  8oi* ;  crossed  the  line  in 
long.  25°,  55  days  out ;  best  run  273 ; 
from  lat  5°  $.,  long.  32°  W.,  to  lat. 
214°  N.,  long.  6oi°  W.,  average  for  8 
days  275 ;  St.  Helena  to  Sandy  Hook 
in  32  days  ;  arrived  New  York  at  9  a.  m. 
on  15th  March,  1848. 

Third  voyage  (commanded  by  Captain  R.  H.  Waterman). 
New  York      Valparaiso  69     Arrived  sth  July,  1848. 

Valparaiso      Hong  Kong         52    Arrived  7  th  December,  1848. 
Canton  New  York  79    Arrived  25th  March,  1849. 

Fourth  voys^e  (commanded  by  Captain  Frazer). 
New  York      Canton  118     Kia  Valparaiso. 

Canton  New  York  85     73  from  Java  Head,  arrived  7th  Mar. ,  iSsa 

Fifth  voyage  (commanded  by  Captain  Frazer). 
New  York      San  Francisco      97    Arrived  24th  July,  1850.   A  record  passage. 
Canton  New  York  102     Left  l8th  March,  1851. 

Sixth  voyage  (commanded  by  Captain  Frazer). 
New  York      San  Francisco    no    Left  ist  Aug.,  1851,  arrived  20th  Nov. 
Canton  New  York  no    Left  24th  March,  1852. 

Seventh  voyage  (commanded  by  Captain  Frazer). 
New  York      San  Francisco    108    Arrived  Sth  December,  1852. 
Woosung        New  York  106     Left  nth  March,  1S53. 

After  her  seventh  voyage  the  Sea  Witch  gave  up 
the  San  Francisco  run  for  the  direct  route  to  China 


44  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

When  homeward  bound  in  1855,  she  put  into  Rio 
with  the  dead  body  of  Captain  Frazer,  who  had 
been  murdered  at  sea  by  his  mate.  After  this 
tragedy  Captain  Lang  took  command  of  the,  by 
this  time,  water-soaked  and  badly  strained  marvel. 
The  end  of  the  famous  ship  came  on  26th  March, 
1856,  whilst  bound  from  Amoy  to  Havana  with  a 
cargo  of  coolies,  she  piled  up  on  the  East  Coast  of 
Cuba  and  became  a  total  loss. 

And  perhaps  it  was  as  well,  for  the  coolie  trafific 
of  that  date  was  a  dreadful  trade  for  a  beautiful  ship. 

The  Tragedy  of  the  *<Bald  Ea^e." 

This  is  proved  by  the  terrible  tragedy  of  the 
clipper  ship  Bald  Eagle.  Like  many  another  fine 
ship  she  gravitated  into  the  coolie  trade,  and  not 
the  highest  but  the  lowest  form  of  coolie  trade — that 
of  carrying  the  refuse  of  China  to  that  hell  whence 
they  never  returned,  the  Chincha  Islands.  She 
was,  in  fact,  but  little  better  than  a  slaver.  For 
years  she  drudged  steadily  at  this  awful  trade, 
sinking  lower  and  lower  in  the  social  scale  of  ships 
until  at  last  a  time  came  when  even  her  officers 
were  foreign,  and  the  only  sign  of  her  past  glories 
was  the  star-spangled  banner  which  still  flew  fron? 
her  monkey  gaff. 

On  her  last  and  fatal  voyage  her  captain  was  a 
Portuguese,  and  he  likewise  shipped  a  crew  of 
dagos,  mostly  his  own  countrymen,  the  only 
Northerner  being  an    Irishman,  who    was   respon- 


THB    CHINA   CLIPPERS  45 

sible  for  the  terrible  account  of  her  end.  How  much 
of  his  yarn  was  an  exaggeration  it  is  impossible  to 
say,  but,  knowing  of  one  or  two  other  not  dissimilar 
tragedies  on  coolie  ships  of  that  time,  I  should  say 
very  little. 

The  Bald  Eagle  was  500  miles  east  of  Manila, 
bound  for  Callao,  and  reeling  off  an  easy  10  knots 
under  the  influence  of  a  stiff  breeze.  It  was  five 
bells  in  the  afternoon  watch,  and  all  seemed  quiet 
below,  when  suddenly  a  wild  screech  rang  out,  and 
the  next  moment  an  avalanche  of  Chinamen 
attempted  to  rush  the  hatchway  ladders,  having 
torn  down  their  bunk  boards  for  weapons.  The 
crew,  however,  were  just  in  time  to  keep  the 
maddened  Celestials  off  the  deck  by  fastening  down 
the  hatch  gratings. 

Then  the  captain,  being  a  Portuguese,  acted  as 
such,  and  bringing  out  his  revolvers  began  shooting 
through  the  gratings  at  the  wretched  coolies,  the 
mates  following  his  example.  But  even  shooting 
rats  in  a  trap  is  sometimes  dangerous,  and  so  it 
proved  on  this  occasion.  The  Chinese  were  in 
such  a  frenzy  that  they  cared  nought  for  the  bullets, 
and  stood  out  under  the  hatchway  grating,  cursing 
and  shrieking  at  the  shooters  until  there  was  a 
wriggling  mass  of  dead  and  wounded  Celestials 
piled  up  almost  as  high  as  the  iron  bars.  And  this 
was  the  cause  of  the  final  tragedy.  So  close  were 
the  pistols  to  the  pile  of  dead  Chinamen  that  a  spit 


46  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

of  flame  actually  set  a  light  to  the  clothing  of  the 
uppermost.  Immediately  there  was  a  furious  rush 
to  obtain  the  burning  cloth,  and  the  maddened 
coolies  fell  over  one  another,  entirely  heedless  of 
the  bullets,  in  their  eagerness  to  preserve  the 
smouldering  piece.  It  was  soon  torn  from  the  dead 
man's  shoulder,  the  man  who  had  got  it  at  once 
blowing  upon  it  to  keep  it  alight.  A  bullet  stopped 
his  efforts,  but  another  seized  it  only  to  be  shot  in 
his  turn  ;  and  so  the  murderous  business  went  on 
with  the  cloth  still  alight.  As  fast  as  those  above 
shot  down  the  men  who  held  this  fatal  fuse  others 
filled  their  places,  until  at  last  the  tiny  flame,  which 
had  been  kept  alight  at  such  a  cost,  disappeared 
from  beneath  the  hatch,  still  burning. 

Half  an  hour  later  smoke  began  to  ascend  out  of 
the  fore  and  main  hatches.  The  crazy  Chinamen 
had  set  the  ship  on  fire,  evidently  thinking  that 
this  would  compel  the  crew  to  take  the  hatches 
off  and  thus  give  them  their  chance  to  rush  the 
ship  and  capture  her.  But  the  Portuguese  had  no 
intention  of  taking  any  such  risk.  Instead  they  cut 
small  holes  through  the  deck,  and  began  to  pump 
water  below  with  the  aid  of  the  wash-deck  hose. 
With  hundreds  of  infuriated  coolies  intent  on 
keeping  the  flames  alight,  this  was,  of  course,  a 
useless  proceeding,  and  in  a  very  short  while  the 
fire  had  so  increased  that  the  heat  and  smoke 
compelled  the  Chinese  to  crowd  under  the  hatchway 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  47 

gratings.  But  when  they  found  that  the  crew  had 
no  intention  of  letting  them  up  on  deck  their  despair 
may  be  imagined,  as  it  had  become  too  late  for 
them  to  be  able  to  put  out  the  flames  themselves. 

The  scene  now  grew  worthy  of  Dante's  Inferno. 
Beneath  the  bars  the  wretched  Chinese  struggled  in 
a  seething,  wriggling  mass  of  terrified  humanity, 
packed  as  tight  as  sardines  by  their  desperate  mates 
further  back  in  the  heat  and  smoke.  From  this 
mass  a  long-drawn  shriek  of  terror  rang  shrill  and 
piercing  into  the  growing  darkness.  To  those  who 
looked  from  above  nought  could  be  seen  but  a  sea 
of  faces  turned  a  sickly  green  with  fright,  their  eyes 
starting  out  of  their  heads,  and  their  mouths  opened 
wide  as  they  gave  vent  to  one  horrible  endless  yell. 
As  the  flames  approached  closer  and  closer  to  the 
hatchwciys  another  frightful  element  was  added  to 
the  tragedy,  and  that  was  the  awful  smell  of  burning 
flesh  as  those  on  the  outskirts  of  this  human 
maelstrom  under  the  square  of  each  hatch  succumbed 
to  the  fire. 

The  crew  had  long  since  ceased  to  pump  water, 
and  were  now  only  concerned  in  getting  safely  clear 
of  the  ship.  The  Bald  Eagle  was  hove  to  just  as 
night  fell  with  great  difficulty,  for  the  smoke  pouring 
out  of  the  deck  was  so  dense  that  the  men  could 
scarcely  breathe  and  had  to  work  as  if  in  a  thick 
fog,  at  the  same  time  the  deafening  shrieks  made  it 
impossible  to  hear  the  orders  of  the  officers. 


48  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

By  8  o'clock  the  Bald  Eagle  was  in  a  blaze  fore 
and  aft  in  spite  of  torrents  of  rain,  which  had  begun 
to  fall  at  sunset.  Slowly  the  yell  of  the  burning 
Chinamen  had  died  down  until  a  ghastly  silence 
reigned,  the  last  coolie  having  succumbed  in  the  fiery 
furnace  below  the  grim  bars  of  the  hatch  gratings. 

With  furious  haste  the  crew  now  set  about 
launching  the  boats,  into  which  they  only  had  time 
to  place  a  little  biscuit  and  water,  barely  enough  for 
one  square  meal.  One  of  the  boats  was  stove  in 
being  got  over  the  side,  so  that  when  they  at  length 
pulled  away  from  this  awful  crematorium  the  two 
quarter  boats  had  ten  men  apiece,  and  the  gunwales 
of  the  long  boat  were  almost  awash  with  eighteen 
men.  The  long  boat  had  masts  and  sails,  but  the 
quarter  boats  only  oars,  so  it  was  decided  to  tow 
them.  The  captain  shaped  a  course  for  Manila. 
The  wind  was  dead  aft,  fresh,  and  with  a  heavy 
following  sea.  All  that  night  the  long  boat  ran 
before  it  with  the  other  boats  in  tow,  all  three 
having  many  narrow  escapes  from  capsizing  or 
being  swamped. 

Three  nights  and  two  days  were  passed  in  this 
fashion,  with  only  the  nibble  of  a  biscuit  for  each 
man  and  the  scantiest  supply  of  water.  And,  as  if 
this  was  not  enough,  the  superstitious  Portuguese 
were  terrified  by  the  continual  presence  of  a  large 
shovel-nose  shark,  which  kept  pace  with  the  long 
boat,  now  on  one  side,  now  on  the  other. 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  49 

On  the  last  night  the  tow  line  of  one  of  the  quarter 
boats  parted,  and  she  was  afterwards  found  stove  in 
and  floating  bottom  up,  though  there  were  no  signs 
of  her  crew,  who,  it  was  surmised,  were  eaten  by 
the  shark. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day  the  land 
was  made  ahead,  only  to  be  blotted  out  the  next 
moment  by  a  dense  mist.  However,  now,  for  the 
first  time,  the  wind  dropped  and  fell  light,  and  the 
two  remaining  boats  presently  found  themselves 
entering  the  harbour  of  Manila.  Here  they  found 
H.M.  gunboat  Rattlesnake,  which  took  them  on 
board  and  looked  after  their  wants.  Such  was  the 
end  of  one  of  the  most  horrible  tales  of  the  sea  it 
would  be  possible  to  imagine. 

American  Clippers  in  the  China  Trade 
previous  to  1850. 

Though  no  Yankee  clipper  launched  before 
the  year  1850,  and  not  many  after  that  date,  were 
faster  than  the  Sea  Witch,  the  following  vessels 
were  very  speedy  and  made  great  reputations  for 
themselves  : — 


Date 
Built. 

Ship. 

Tons. 

Captain 
(First  Voyage). 

Builders. 

Where 
Built. 

Owners. 

1S44 
1847 

1847 
1848 
1849 

Honqua 
Samuel 

Russell 
Architect 
Memfum 
Oriental 

706 

940 

520 

1068 

1003 

N.  B.  Palmer 

N.  B.  Palmer 
G.  A.  Potter 
Gordon 
N.  B.  Palmer 

Brown  &  Bell 

Brown  &  Bell 
Gray 

Smith  &Dimon 
Jacob  Bell 

NewYork 

NewYork 
Baltimore 
NewYork 
NewYork 

A.  A.  Low 

A,  A.  Low 
Nye,  Parkin 
W.  Delano 
A.  A.  Low 

The    Honqua    was    named    after   a   well-known 

E 


50  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Canton    merchant    who    was    much    esteemed    by 
Europeans  on  account  of  his  integrity  and  kindness. 

Captain  N.  B.  Palmer  left  the  medium  clipper 
Paul  Jones  to  take  her,  and  he  so  impressed  Messrs. 
A.  A.  Low  &  Brother,  that,  until  his  retirement,  he 
was  always  given  their  newest  ship — thus  he  com- 
manded the  Honqua,  Samuel  Russell  and  Oriental 
in  turn.  Indeed,  it  was  said  that  the  success  of  these 
three  vessels  was  a  great  deal  due  to  his  influence 
on  their  designs  and  outfit.  From  the  date  that  he 
entered  the  Low's  employ,  he  seems  to  have  acted 
as  their  confidential  and  expert  adviser — a  not 
unusual  arrangement  between  owners  and  favourite 
captains. 

On  her  maiden  voyage,  the  Honqua  went  out  to 
Hong  Kong  in  84  days  and  came  home  in  90.  On 
the  homeward  passage  her  daily  average  was  1 58*6 
miles  and  her  best  run  270.  This  she  improved 
upon  in  1850  under  Captain  M'Kenzie,  when  she 
broke  the  record  from  Shanghai  to  New  York  with 
an  88  day  passage. 

In  January,  1848,  the  Honqua  had  a  very  nasty 
experience,  being  dismasted  in  a  cyclone  south-west 
of  Sandalwood  Island.  A  sudden  shift  of  wind 
from  S.W.  to  south  broached  her  to  and  she  soon 
afterwards  fell  into  the  calm  centre  of  the  storm  and 
came  very  near  foundering. 

She  met  her  fate  eventually  in  a  typhoon  in  the 
year  1865. 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  51 

Samuel  Russell  was  named  after  the  founder  of 
the  firm  of  Russell  &  Co.,  in  whose  counting-house 
the  brothers  Low  commenced  their  career.  She 
sailed  on  her  maiden  voyage  on  14th  September, 
1847,  and  went  out  by  the  Eastern  Passage  in  114 
days,  her  best  run  being  300  miles  in  38J  S.,  86°  E., 
and  her  log  recorded : — "  Strong  breezes  from 
N.W.,  4  p.m.  took  in  royal  stunsails,  11.30  a.n). 
took  in  main-skysail  and  jib-o'-jib." 

In  1849  Captain  Nat  Palmer  left  her  to  take  over 
the  Oriental,  and  his  brother  T.  D.  Palmer  took 
charge.  The  famous  Captain  Dumaresq  went  out 
in  her  and  kept  her  log.  T.  D.  Palmer  was  not  a 
great  sail  carrier  and  Dumaresq  betrayed  his  im- 
patience at  the  sight  of  reefed  canvas  by  the  many 
exclamation  marks  he  put  after  his  entries  in  the  log. 

She  took  89  days  to  Java  Head,  but  the  following 
will  show  that  she  was  not  given  a  fair  chance. 

Best  day  to  eqaator  297  miles  with  beam  wind  and  skysails  set  part  of 
the  time. 

Best  run  after  passing  Cape  Meridian  288  miles,  "Under  single  and  double- 
reefed  topsails  !  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

1st  May,  "Let  out  reefs  and  made  sail;  consequently  made  a  good  run 
of  262." 

6th  May,  "Fresh  breezes,  thick  weather,  double-reefed  topsails  !  !  !" 

20th  May,  "  Run  275  miles,  fresh  trades,  skysails  and  royals  in  and  part  of 
the  time  flying  jib  and  mizen  topgallantsail  !  !  ! " 

But  with  more  enterprising  captains  Samuel 
Russell  was  enabled  to  prove  her  metal.  Her  best 
run  from  Canton  to  New  York  was  in  1852.  Sail- 
ing on  6th  April,  she  came  home  in  95  days,  best  run 


52  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

328.  The  year  before,  when  bound  home  from 
Whampoa,  she  sailed  6722  miles  in  30  consecutive 
days.  She  holds  the  record,  as  far  as  I  know, 
between  Cape  San  Roque  and  50°  south,  which  she 
did  in  16  days. 

In  1870,  when  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Frederick  Lucas,  she  was  wrecked  in  Caspar  Straits, 

Of  Architect,  Memnon  and  Oriental  I  shall  write 
later  when  we  come  to  the  American  competition 
in  the  English  trade. 

The  Boom  in  American  Clipper  Ship  Building. 

The  American  tea  ships  usually  went  out  to 
China  direct,  but  on  the  discovery  of  gold  in 
California  they  were  all  sent  round  the  Horn  to 
San  Francisco,  then  crossed  the  Pacific  in  order  to 
load  tea  home. 

The  Cape  Horn  voyage  between  Eastern  Ameri- 
can ports  and  the  Californian  coast  the  Americans 
have  very  wisely  kept  barred  to  other  nations. 
Before  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  summer  of  1848, 
it  was  not  of  much  account.  A  few  vessels  went  to 
the  coast  for  a  while  before  going  on  to  China  to 
load  the  season's  teas,  but  the  California  trade  itself 
was  confined  to  the  hide-droghers,  who  picked  up 
their  cargoes  bit  by  bit  as  the  supplies  came  down 
to  the  small  coast  settlements. 

Dana  in  his  T-wo  Years  before  the  Mast  gives  us 
a  vivid  account  of  this  trade  and  the  vessels,  em- 
ployed in  it.     I  have  a  record  of  his  ship,  the  Alert, 


THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS  53 

from  which  it  may  be  of  interest   to  give  a,  few 
extracts : — 

"  On  nth  May,  1831,  the  A/eri  left  Boston  bound 
to  Canton  via  Gibraltar,  ist  June,  arrived  Gibraltar, 
21  days  out.  19th  June,  left  Gibraltar;  crossed  the 
line  13th  July,  having  averaged  141^  miles  a  day 
from  Gibraltar.  From  Gibraltar  to  the  Cape  47 
days,  averaging  i64f.  To  Java  Head  83 J  days, 
averaging  165 J.  To  Lintin  105  days,  averaging 
156.     Total  distance  by  log  16,225  miles. 

"  Left  Canton  22nd  November.  Passed  Java 
Head  15^  days.  Off  the  Cape  17th  January,  56 
days  out.  Crossed  the  line  on  loth  February. 
Anchored  inside  the  Hook  7th  March — 105  day 
passage.     Total  log  33,579,  averaging  146  per  day." 

The  Alert  was  a  500-ton  ship,  with  full  lines  and 
was  a  real  specimen  of  the  early  American  deep 
waterman  at  her  best. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  California  not  only 
woke  up  the  Pacific  coastline,  but  gave  an  extra- 
ordinary fillip  to  the  American  Mercantile  Marine. 

As  is  usual  with  that  magic  metal,  the  news  of 
the  find  spread  with  amazing  quickness.  At  first 
whispered  rumours,  and  then  wide-flung  reports  of 
nuggets  as  thick  as  pebbles  on  the  seashore  and 
gold  dust  to  be  shovelled  out  of  the  beds  of  moun- 
tain torrents  like  so  much  sand  flew  from  continent 
to  continent.  It  was  the  first  big  gold  find  for 
centuries.       Men    of    every    nationality,    of    every 


54  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

profession  and  of  every  class  caught  the  gold  fever 
and  set  out  in  furious  haste  for  the  great  El  Dorado. 

There  were  three  routes  possible — round  Cape 
Horn  ;  by  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  ;  and  overland. 

The  quickest  route  was  supposed  to  be  by  the 
Pacific  mail  steamers  to  Colon  and  across  the 
Isthmus,  but  here  the  congestion  of  traffic  caused 
endless  delay,  and  it  was  often  the  case  of  the 
Isthmus  hare  and  the  Cape  Horn  tortoise,  besides 
which  this  route  was  terribly  expensive,  and  most 
gold  seekers  are  not  millionaires. 

The  trip  overland  in  a  prairie  schooner  meant 
facing  hostHe  Indians  and  a  possible  death  from 
thirst  or  privation.  Thus  it  was  that  the  greater 
number  of  the  fortune-hunters  chose  the  stormy 
passage  round  the  Horn.  Every  sort  of  vessel  that 
would  float  was  pressed  into  the  service,  from  the 
crack  China  clipper  to  the  superannuated  Indiaman, 
from  the  nimble  New  York  pilot  schooner  to  the 
war-worn  veteran  of  the  Nantucket  whaling  fleet. 
In  1849  and  1850,  760  vessels  rounded  the  Horn 
from  American  ports  alone,  carrying  15,597 
passengers  in  1849  and  11,770  in   1850. 

Many  a  ship  entered  the  Golden  Gate  with  only 
her  pumps  keeping  her  afloat.  Many  a  ship, 
instead  of  anchoring,  ran  up  on  the  mud  flats  of 
Mission  Bay,  Here,  deserted  by  their  crews,  they 
were  often  taken  over  by  complete  strangers,  and 
used  as  storehouses  and  hotels.     Such  a  fate  had 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  55 

the  full-rig  ship  Niantic,  which  was  floated  up  to 
what  would  be  now  the  centre  of  San  Francisco  and 
transformed  into  what  Westerners  call  a  bunkhouse. 
A  doorway  was  cut  in  her  side,  over  which  was 
painted  : — "  Rest  for  the  weary  and  storage  for 
trunks."  The  ship  Apollo  was  turned  into  a  saloon; 
whilst  the  hulk  of  the  brig  Eupkemia,  conveniently 
bilged  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road,  was  the  first 
prison  of  San  Francisco. 

In  a  gold  rush  the  prize  is  often  to  the  first  man 
on  the  spot,  thus  ship  speed  all  at  once  became  the 
desire  of  the  whole  world.  Every  clipper  was 
engaged  at  enormous  premiums.  Every  Down 
East  shipyard  began  to  work  overtime.  From 
Maine  to  Maryland,  from  Baltimore  to  St.  John, 
N.B.,  the  hammers  began  going  night  and  day. 
Even  fishing  villages,  where  the  launch  of  a  300- 
ton  ship  had  been  the  sign  for  a  general  holiday 
and  the  cause  of  much  parochial  pride  and  rejoicing, 
began  to  build  ships  of  1000  tons.  In  some  places 
vessels  were  actually  built  in  the  woods,  and  hauled 
to  the  water's  edge  by  teams  of  oxen.  Farmers 
turned  wood  sawyers,  and  every  petty  carpenter 
called  himself  a  shipwright.  The  ships  were  mostly 
built  on  the  share  principle ;  the  captain,  the  ship 
chandler,  the  block  maker,  sail  maker  and  cooper 
each  taking  his  proportion  of  shares. 

And  all  along  the  Down  East  Coast  the  boys 
were  sunning  away  to  sea,  until  cabin  boys  were  a 


56  THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS 

glut  in  the  market  and  stowing  away  became  a 
necessity  for  an  adventurous  lad.  The  very  infants 
learnt  their  knots  and  grew  as  conversant  with 
grease  and  tar  as  the  oldest  shellback,  whilst  every 
Down  East  girl  could  sing  "  Round  Cape  Horn." 
I  only  know  three  verses ;  no  doubt  there  were  a 
hundred, 

I  asked  a  maiden  by  my  side, 

Who  sighed  and  looked  to  me  forlorn, 
' '  Where  is  your  heart  ?  "    She  quick  replied, 
"Round  Cape  Horn." 

I  said,  "  I'll  let  your  father  know," 
To  boys  in  mischief  on  the  lawn. 
They  all  replied,  "  Then  you  must  go 
Round  Cape  Horn." 

In  fact  I  asked  a  little  boy 

If  he  could  tell  where  he  was  born. 
He  answered  with  a  mark  of  joy, 
"Round  Cape  Horn." 

New  York  and  Boston  were,  of  course,  the  two 
great  centres  of  the  American  clipper  ship  boom. 
In  New  York  it  was  said  that  10,000  workmen 
were  employed  by  the  great  shipyards  along  the 
East  River.  The  chief  firms  were  William  H. 
Webb,  Smith  &  Dimon,  Jacob  Bell  (successor  of 
Brown  &  Bell),  Jacob  A.  Westervelt,  and  Roosevelt 
&  Joyce.  Of  these  perhaps  Wm.  H.  Webb  had 
the  finest  record.  In  all  he  built  138  vessels 
totalling  177,872  tons. 

Boston,  in  her  turn,  could  boast  of  Sam  Hall, 
Paul  Curtis,  R.  E.  Jackson,  and  Donald  Mackay, 
one  of  the  greatest  shipbuilders  that  the  world  has 
known.     There  is  no  doubt  that  his  was  a  peculiar 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  57 

genius,  for  certainly  no  mere  perfection  of  crafts- 
manship could  have  produced  his  wonderful  models. 
He  never  had  a  failure ;  and  this  is  the  more 
wonderful  when  we  remember  that  a  ship  is 
something  more  than  a  building  of  wood  and  iron, 
that  it  has  a  life  of  its  own,  the  capriciousness  of 
which  has  never  been  better  expressed  than  by 
those  well-known  words  of  Solomon  when  he 
confesses  that  of  the  four  things  which  are  too 
wonderful  for  him  to  understand  one  is  "  the  way  of 
a  ship  in  the  midst  of  the  sea."  Mackay's  master- 
pieces were  Staghound,  Flying  Cloud,  Sovereign  of 
the  Seas,  Flying  Fish,  Westward  Ho,  Great 
Republic,  and  the  four  ships  built  for  the  English 
Black  Ball  Line  (James  Baines  &  Co.),  namely, 
Lightning,  James  Baines,  Champion  of  the  Seas,  and 
Donald  Mackay.  No  vessels  propelled  by  wind 
alone  have  ever  travelled  so  fast  through  the  water 
as  the  Mackay  cracks. 

Just  before  the  California  boom  began  it  had 
been  generally  felt  that  there  was  considerable 
room  for  improvement  in  the  construction  of  the 
clippers.  The  endeavour  to  give  them  speed  at 
any  price  had  made  builders  sacrifice  other  essentials, 
and  it  was  soon  found  that  the  early  cHppers  were 
not  strongly  enough  put  together  to  stand  the  strain 
of  the  tremendous  cracking  on  indulged  in  by  their 
daring  commanders.  Their  bills  for  repairs  at  the 
end   of  a  voyage  ate  a  very  large   hole   in   their 


58  THE    CHINA    COPPERS 

profits,  and  their  cargoes  were  not  always  delivered 
in  as  good  a  condition  as  they  should  have  been, 
added  to  which  their  carrying  capacity  compared  to 
their  tonnage  was  very  small.  So  it  came  about 
that  when  the  great  demand  for  new  clipper  tonnage 
arrived  in  the  wake  of  the  gold  discovery,  men  like 
Wm.  H.  Webb  and  Donald  Mackay  made  great 
efforts  to  combine  strength  with  speed,  and  in  this 
they  were  imitated  by  the  other  chief  builders  along 
the  coast,  with  the  result  that  the  American  clipper 
ships  of  the  early  fifties  were  far  superior  to  their 
predecessors  in  all-round  merit. 

Space  will  not  admit  a  full  list  and  description  of 
all  the  beautiful  clippers  built  in  America  in  the 
early  fifties,  but  I  will  attempt  to  give  a  short  account 
of  those  which  were  best  known  in  the  China  trade 
{see  page  59). 

American  Clipper  Ships  Launched  18S0>h1851. 

This  list  contains  the  names  of  all  the  foremost 
captains,  builders,  and  owners  in  the  United  States ; 
whilst  amongst  the  ships  named  no  less  than  six  ot 
them  invaded  the  English  tea  trade,  and  caused 
great  commotion  amongst  the  owners  of  British  tea 
ships  by  making  passages  which  at  the  time  were 
considered  to  be  impossible.  These  were  the 
Celestial,  Surprise,  Sea  Serpent,  Challenge,  Witch 
of  the  Wave,  and  Nightingale.  Yet  if  we  compare 
them  with  the  other  seven  we  find  that  the  ships 
that   kept   to   the    American   trade    were    certainly 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 


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60  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

faster    than    the    ships    which    made    such    great 
reputations  in  the  English  trade. 

The  Celestial  was  Webb's  first  out-and-out 
clipper.  She  was  a  speedy  little  ship,  though  too 
beamy  for  her  length.  She  is  chiefly  interesting 
as  being  one  of  the  American  clippers  which 
entered  the  British  tea  trade.  Her  best  perform- 
ance was  probably  her  maiden  passage,  when  she 
went  out  to  San  Francisco  in  104  days  from 
New  York. 

The  "Surprise." 

From  a  financial,  as  well  as  a  speed,  point  of 
view  the  Surprise  was  a  most  successful  clipper. 
She  was  the  first,  also,  to  be  fully  rigged  on  the 
stocks  and  launched  with  her  skysail  yards  across 
and  her  running  gear  rove  off.  Her  launch,  indeed, 
was  made  more  of  a  ceremony  than  was  usual  in 
America  at  that  date.  A  ladies'  pavilion  was 
specially  built  for  it,  and  Hall's  mould  loft,  gaily 
decorated  with  flags,  was  used  as  a  banqueting  hall, 
the  master  foreman  presiding  at  the  feast,  whilst 
Mr.  Hall  provided  a  similar  entertainment  for  his 
particular  friends  at  his  own  house. 

The  Surprise  was  an  unusually  sightly '  vessel.  If 
she  lacked  the  powerful  sheer  and  rugged  ap- 
pearance of  strength,  so  marked  in  her  Mackay 
rivals,  she  was  in  many  respects  more  taking  to  the 
eye,  with  her  graceful  lines  and  beautifully  modelled 
ends.     These  were  magnificently  ornamented.     As 


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THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS  61 

a  figurehead  she  had  a  golden  eagle  in  flight,  whilst 
the  arms  of  New  York  were  carved  on  her  stern. 

With  regard  to  her  measurements,  30  inches 
dead-rise  at  half  floor  will  give  some  idea  of  her 
underwater  body,  whilst  her  84-foot  mainmast  and 
78  feet  of  mainyard  will  give  an  idea  of  her  sail  plan. 

She  carried  a  crew  consisting  of  four  mates,  one 
steward,  two  cooks,  two  bo's'ns,  carpenter,  sail- 
maker,  four  boys,  six  ordinary  seamen,  and  thirty 
able  seamen. 

Captain  Philip  Dumaresq,  one  of  the  most  noted 
captains  in  the  China  trade,  had  her  for  one  voyage, 
then  he  had  to  leave  her  to  take  over  another  new 
clipper. 

When  ready  for  sea  the  Surprise  was  towed 
round  to  New  York  by  Boston's  historic  tug  boat, 
the  R.  B.  Forbes.  There  she  loaded  1800  tons  of 
cargo,  valued  at  200,000  dollars,  for  California,  and 
it  is  related  that  her  manifest  was  25  feet  long. 

With  the  exception  of  the  little  Seaman,  she  was 
the  first  clipper  of  the  season  to  arrive  in  San 
Francisco,  having  made  an  extraordinary  run  out. 
Though  her  best  day's  work  was  only  284  miles, 
and  she  reefed  topsails  but  twice  during  the  whole 
passage,  she  passed  through  the  Golden  Gate  on 
the  ninety-sixth  day  out,  a  record  for  that  passage, 
which,  however,  was  not  to  stand  for  long. 

From  San  Francisco  the  Surprise  crossed  to 
Canton,  where  she  was  taken  up  to  load  tea  for  the 


62  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

English  market  at  £6  a  ton,  double  the  amount 
offered  to  English  ships.  Her  whole  voyage  was 
so  successful  financially  that,  after  paying  her  entire 
cost  as  well  as  running  expenses,  her  freight  receipts 
left  her  owners  a  clear  50,000  dollars  profit. 

Captain  Dumaresq  was  succeeded  by  Captain 
Charles  Ranlett,  who,  in  turn,  was  succeeded  by  his 
son.  Under  the  two  Ranletts  the  Surprise  put  up 
a  wonderful  record  racing  home  from  China.  She 
made  six  consecutive  passages  from  Hong  Kong 
and  five  from  Shanghai  to  New  York,  of  which  the 
longest  was  only  89  days  and  the  shortest  81,  whilst 
she  made  three  passages  out  to  San  Francisco 
averaging  109  days. 

On  4th  February,  1876,  when  commanded  by 
Charles  Ranlett,  junior,  she  struck  a  sunken  rock 
beating  into  Yokohama  and  became  a  total  loss. 

The  "Staghound." 

The  Staghound  was  the  great  Donald 
Mackay's  pioneer  clipper.  In  her  Mackay,  for 
the  first  time,  gave  his  whole  thought  to  speed. 
Indeed,  so  little  did  carrying  capacity  enter  into  his 
calculations  that  the  Staghound  could  barely  carry 
her  registered  tonnage  of  deadweight. 

The  chief  innovation  in  her  design,  which 
attracted  the  criticism  of  the  experts,  was  increase 
of  length  in  comparison  to  breadth  and  depth. 
Another  point  which  raised  the  doubts  of  her  critics 
was  the   immensity  of  her  sail  area.      In  all  she 


THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS  63 

spread  upwards  of  8000  yards  of  canvas,  1000  yards 
more  than  the  usual  allowance  for  a  first-rate 
battleship.  Her  mainmast  was  88  feet  in  length 
and  her  mainyard  86  feet. 

With  regard  to  her  lines,  she  was  the  sharpest 
ship  ever  launched  in  Boston  at  that  date,  with  a 
dead-rise  of  40  inches  at  half  floor,  this  being  more 
than  that  of  any  of  Mackay's  later  ships. 

There  was  no  great  ceremony  at  the  launching  of 
Staghound,  such  as  had  taken  place  at  that  of 
Surprise.  The  7th  of  December,  1850,  was  the 
date  chosen,  which,  in  accordance  with  her  building 
contract,  was  just  60  days  after  the  laying  down  of 
her  keel.  It  was  wintry  weather,  with  the  land 
frost  bound  and  covered  in  snow  and  the  harbour 
full  of  drift  ice.  In  order  to  prevent  the  tallow 
freezing  on  the  ways  recourse  was  had  to  boiling 
whale  oil.  As  the  dog  shores  were  knocked  away, 
the  yard  foreman  broke  a  bottle  of  Medford  rum 
across  her  forefoot,  and  shouted,  "  Stagkound !  your 
name's  Staghound!"  then  as  she  struck  the  water 
the  bells  of  Boston  peeled  forth,  and  after  waiting 
to  see  that  she  brought  up  safely  to  her  anchors, 
the  few  frost-bitten  spectators  hurried  home  out  of 
the  cold. 

In  appearance  the  Staghound  ^0^0.6.  more  of  the 
points  of  an  out-and-out  racer  than  almost  any  other 
Mackay  model.  No  such  vessel  had  ever  been 
seen  in  Boston  before,  and  when  she  reached  New 


64  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

York  at  the  end  of  the  R.  B.  Forbes'  tow  rope,  the 
cautious  underwriters  considered  that  for  once 
Mackay  had  overreached  himself  and  insisted 
on  charging  extra  premiums  for  her  insurance. 
Nevertheless  she  found  no  difficulty  in  taking  in  a 
full  freight  at  1.40  dollars  a  cubic  foot,  which  was 
sufficient  to  more  than  pay  for  her  initial  cost. 

When  she  set  sail  for  San  Francisco  under 
Captain  Josiah  Richardson,  she  carried  a  crew  of 
forty-six  hands  before  the  mast,  including  six 
ordinary  seamen  and  four  boys. 

She  arrived  at  Valparaiso  on  8th  April,  1851,  and 
Captain  Richardson  wrote  the  following  letter  to 
her  owners  : — 

Gentlemen — Your  ship,  the  Staghound,  anchored  in  this  port  this  day, 
after  a  passage  of  66  days,  the  shortest  bar  one  ever  made  here ;  and  if  we 
had  not  lost  the  maintopmast  and  all  three  topgallantmasts  on  February  6, 
our  passage  doubtless  would  have  been  the  shortest  ever  made.  The  ship  is 
yet  to  be  built  to  beat  the  Staghound.  Nothing  that  we  have  fallen  in  with 
yet  could  hold  her  in  play.  I  am  in  love  with  the  ship,  a  better  sea  boat  or 
working  ship  or  drier  I  never  sailed  in. 

The  loss  of  her  masts  had  occurred  6  days  out 
from  New  York  in  a  south-easterly  gale,  and  not- 
withstanding being  without  a  maintopsail  for  9  days 
and  topgallantsails  for  1 2  days,  she  was  south  of  the 
line  on  the  twenty-first  day  after  leaving  Sandy 
Hook.  In  spite  of  her  jury  rig,  she  proved  herself 
very  fast  in  moderate  breezes,  whilst  able  to  log  17 
miles  with  a  fresh  gale  on  the  quarter.  After 
repairing  damages  she  went  on  to  San  Francisco, 
doing  the  whole  passage  in  107  days,  her  best  run 
being  358  miles. 


THE   CHINA  CLIPPERS  65 

From  San  Francisco  Staghound  went  on  to  China 
by  way  of  Honolulu,  making  the  run  to  Honolulu 
in  9  days. 

Leaving  Whampoa  on  9th  October,  1851,  she 
made  the  run  to  New  York  in  94  days. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Staghound  was  either 
a  very  hard  ship  on  her  rigging,  or  else  the  gear 
was  not  sufficiendy  strong  to  stand  the  strain 
of  such  furious  driving  as  her  captain  indulged  in. 
This  was  also  the  case  with  many  another  famous 
American  clipper — notably  Flying  Cloud,  Sovereign 
of  the  Seas,  Witchcraft,  Sea  Serpent^  Eclipse, 
Tornado  and  Comet. 

This  may  have  been  caused  by  a  miscalculation 
on  the  part  of  the  builders — no  doubt  to  a  certain 
degree  it  was,  yet  excessive  carrying  of  sail,  such  as 
many  of  the  American  skippers  delighted  in,  was 
bound  to  result  in  occasional  losses  of  spars  and 
sails.  Anyhow  Staghound  seems  to  have  been 
specially  unfortunate  in  this  respect,  as  on  her 
second  voyage  she  was  obliged  to  put  into  Rio 
when  29  days  out  in  order  to  repair  damages, 
having  been  again  partially  dismasted.  Thus,  for 
the  second  time  her  run  out  was  spoilt,  however, 
she  again  made  a  good  homeward  passage,  leaving 
Hong  Kong  on  25th  September,  1852,  she  reached 
New  York  95  days  out. 

Staghound  ended  her  career  in  1863,  being  burnt 
off  the  Brazil  coast  when  bound  to  San  Francisco 


66  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

from  New  York  with  a  cargo  of  soft  coal.  It  was 
said  that  the  only  thing  saved  from  the  burning 
ship  was  her  United  States'  ensign,  which  her 
captain  brought  home  to  the  owners  as  a  relic. 

The  "Witchcraft." 

The  Witchcraft  was  Paul  Curtis'  first  effort  at 
an  out-and-out  clipper.  She  was  a  very  handsome 
vessel,  beautifully  finished,  with  a  wonderful  figure- 
head of  a  Salem  witch  riding  on  a  broomstick. 

In  point  of  speed,  she  was  quite  worthy  to  rank 
alongside  Surprise,  Staghound,  and  the  other  cracks 
of  her   year. 

Her  first  voyage  was,  however,  a  disastrous  one. 
Like  Staghound,  she  had  to  put  into  Valparaiso  to 
replace  lost  spars,  and  on  top  of  this  she  had  the  ill 
luck  to  run  into  a  typhoon  on  her  way  across  to 
China  from  San  Francisco,  when  she  lost  her  main 
and  mizen  masts.  She  was  commanded  by  a  very 
notable  skipper  in  Captain  William  C.  Rogers. 
This  man  was  the  son  of  one  of  her  owners,  and, 
though  he  never  served  before  the  mast  or  as  an 
officer,  he  proved  to  have  rare  capabilities  as  a 
shipmaster. 

His  was  a  somewhat  rare  case.  He  went  to  sea 
and  kept  the  sea  for  the  pure  love  of  the  game,  and 
he  took  command  with  only  such  experience  as  a 
few  voyages  to  Canton  and  Calcutta  as  a  passenger 
could  give.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  he 
was  offered  command  in  the  United  States   Navy 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  67 

and  served  with  distinction.  He  married  a  grand- 
daughter of  the  celebrated  Nathaniel  Bowditch. 
Witchcraft  was  one  of  the  select  few  which  made 
the  run  out  to  San  Francisco  in  under  loo  days ; 
this  she  did  in  1854,  taking  97  days. 

The  ''Sea  Serpent." 

The  Sea  Serpent  was  the  pioneer  clipper  of 
Messrs.  Grinnell,  Minturn's  Californian  Line  and  the 
first  sharp  ship  built  by  George  Raynes,  of  Ports- 
mouth, N.H.  She  was  a  very  rakish,  thoroughbred 
looking  racer,  and  the  long  delicate  green  and  gold 
serpent  forming  her  figurehead  gave  a  most  appro- 
priate hint  of  her  slippery  qualities. 

She  was  commanded  by  the  celebrated  packet 
captain,  William  Howland,  the  former  commander 
of  such  famous  Yankee  packets  as  Horatio, 
Ashburton,  Henry  Clay,  Cornelius  Grinnell  and 
Constantine.  He  was  a  real  passenger  ship  captain 
who  upheld  the  dignity  of  his  position.  His  orders 
were  only  issued  to  the  officer  of  the  watch,  he  put 
on  kid  gloves  when  he  came  on  deck  and  he  never 
left  the  sacred  planks  of  the  poop. 

On  her  first  voyage  Sea  Serpent  lost  spars  and 
sails  off  the  Horn  and  was  compelled  to  put  into 
Valparaiso ;  deducting  the  delay  so  caused,  her  run 
out  to  San  Francisco  was  made  in  115  days.  Her 
best  passage  to  San  Francisco  was  107  days  in 
1853,  her  best  passage  home  to  New  York  from 
China  88  days. 


68  THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS 

«N.  B.  Palmer." 

N.  B.  Palmer  was  the  first  American  clipper 
to  leave  the  ways  in  1851  and  the  most  notable  of 
all  the  vessels  launched  from  Westervelt's  yard. 

She  was  named,  of  course,  after  the  celebrated 
Captain  Palmer.  A  model  of  this  beautiful  ship 
was  sent  over  to  England  and  exhibited  at  the 
Crystal  Palace  in  185 1. 

In  China  she  was  known  as  the  "Yacht,"  on 
account  of  the  smartness  with  which  she  was 
kept  up. 

Captain  Charles  Porter  Low,  her  commander, 
was  a  rich  man,  a  younger  brother  of  her  owners, 
and  like  Captain  Rogers  he  went  to  sea  because  he 
loved  the  life.  Captain  Low  and  his  beautiful  wife 
made  their  home  on  the  N.  B.  Palmer,  and  whilst 
in  port,  especially  in  China,  they  gave  the  most 
princely  entertainments  aboard,  and  many  a  retired 
British  Naval  officer  has  pleasant  memories  of  the 
crack  Yankee  clipper. 

After  a  voyage  or  two  out  to  San  Francisco, 
Captain  Low  kept  the  N.  B.  Palmer  entirely  to  the 
China  tea  trade,  and  remained  in  her  till  she  was 
sold  and  changed  her  flag  in  1872.  Her  best  tea 
passage  in  this  time  was  84  days  to  New  York 
leaving  Canton  waters  in  January. 

An  interesting  relic  of  the  N.  B.  Palmer  is  still  to 
be  seen  in  New  York.  This  is  the  carved  figure  of 
a  sailor  holding  a  compass,  which  stands  outside  the 


THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS  69 

establishment  of  Messrs.  Negus,  the  nautical 
instrument  makers.  This  sailor  at  one  time  served 
as  a  binnacle  aboard  the  iV.  B.  Palmer.  But  the 
helmsmen  used  to  complain  that  the  blank  stare  of 
this  wooden  mariner  interfered  with  their  steering, 
and  he  was  eventually  removed  and  replaced  by  the 
usual  binnacle. 

The  "Hying  Cloud." 

Of  all  the  American  clippers,  the  Flying 
Cloud  was  perhaps  the  most  notable,  only  one 
vessel,  the  Andrew  Jackson,  ever  rivalling  her 
double  record  of  89  days  to  San  Francisco. 

Donald  Mackay  put  her  on  the  stocks  to  the 
order  of  his  old  friend  and  first  patron,  Enoch 
Train  ;  but  Tray^  to  the  regret  of  his  life,  sold  her 
before  she  was  launched  to  Grinnell,  Minturn  &  Co. 

The  following  are  a  few  points  worth  noting  in 
Flying  Cloud's  design  and  equipment.  Her  length 
of  keel  was  208  feet,  and  length  over  all  from 
knighthead  to.  taffrail  225  feet.  She  had  20  inches 
of  dead-rise  at  half  floor,  which  compared  with  the 
40  inches  which  Mackay  gave  to  Staghound,  his 
first  clipper  ship,  shows  that  the  great  designer  was 
already  attempting  to  produce  a  fast  ship  with  a  full 
midship  section. 

Flying  Cloud  dXso  seems  to  have  had  less  spread  to 
her  canvas  than  Staghound,  for,  though  their  main- 
masts were  of  equal  length,  the  mainyard  of  the  former 
only  measured  82  as  against  Staghound's  86  feet. 


70  THE  CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Like  nearly  all  the  Yankee  clippers,  Flying  Cloud 
crossed  three  skysail  yards,  had  royal  stunsails,  a 
reef  band  in  her  topgallant  sails,  four  reefs  in  her 
topsails  and  swinging  boom  and  passaree  to  spread 
her  fore  lower  stunsails  and  haul  out  the  clews  of 
the  foresail. 

She  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Josiah  Perkins  Creesy,  who  had  the  reputation  of 
being  one  of  the  most  skilful  sailors  of  his  day. 

On  3rd  June,  185 1,  the  Flying  Cloud  ran  out  past 
the  Hook  before  a  light  westerly  air.  And  although 
the  wind  soon  freshened  to  a  gale,  Creesy  hung  on 
to  his  three  skysails  and  royal  stunsails  with  perfect 
indifference  to  the  law  of  the  breaking  strain.  But 
there  comes  a  time  when  spars  begin  to  go,  and  this 
began  as  early  as  6th  June.  The  lollowing  entries 
in  her  captain's  abstract  log  tell  their  own  tale. 

June  6. — Lost  main-topsail  yard  and  main  and  mizen  topgallantmasts. 
June  7. — Sent  up  topgallantmasts  and  yards. 
June  8. — Sent  up  main-topsail  yard  and  set  all  possible  sail. 
June  14. — Discovered  mainmast  badly  sprung  about  a  foot  from  the  hounds 
and  fished  it. 

(From  this  date  she  had  doldrum  weather  and  for 
four  consecutive  days  her  runs  were  only  loi,  82, 
52  and  53  miles.  However  she  crossed  the  line  in 
21  days  in  spite  of  an  unusual  series  of  calms. 
Creesy,  like  the  maj'ority  of  American  masters,  seems 
to  have  been  waging  the  usual  belaying  pin  and 
knuckle-duster  warfare  with  his  crew,  and  this  came 
to  a  head  soon  after  crossing  the  line,  some  of  the 
men  being  put  in  irons.) 


THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS  71 

July  II. — Very  severe  thunder  and  lightening.  Double  reefed  topsails — 
latter  part  blowing  a  hard  gale,  close  reefed  topsails,  split  fore  and  main  topmast 
staysails.  At  i  p.m.  discovered  mainmast  had  sprung.  Sent  down  royal 
and  topgallant  yards  and  studding  sail  booms  off  lower  and  topsail  yards  to 
relieve  the  mast.  Heavy  sea  running  and  shipping  large  quantities  of  water 
over  lee  rail. 

July  12, — Heavy  south-west  gales  and  sea.     Distance  40  miles. 

July  13. — Let  men  out  of  irons  in  consequence  of  wanting  their  services, 
with  the  understanding  that  they  would  be  taken  care  of  on  arriving  at  San 
Francisco,  At  6  p.m.  carried  away  main-topsail  tye  and  truss  band  round 
mainmast.     Single  reefed  topsails. 

July  19. — Crossed  latitude  50  south. 

July  20. — At  4  a.m.  close-reefed  topsails  and  furled  courses.  Hard  gale 
with  thick  weather  and  snow. 

July  23. — Passed  through  the  Straits  of  Le  Maire.  At  8  a.m.  Cape  Horn 
north  5  miles  distant,  the  whole  coast  covered  with  snow. 

July  26. — Crossed  latitude  50  south  in  the  Pacific,  7  days  from  same 
latitude  in  Atlantic. 

July  31. — Fresh  breezes  and  fine  weather.  All  sail  set  At  2  p.m.  wind 
south-east.  At  6  squally,  in  lower  and  topgallant  studding  sails.  7  p.m.,  in 
royals.  2  a.m.,  in  foretopmast  studding  sail.  Latter  part  strong  gales  and 
high  sea  running,  ship  very  wet  fore  and  aft.  Distance  run  this  day  by 
observation  374  miles.  During  the  squalls  18  knots  of  line  were  not  sufficient 
to  measure  the  rate  of  speed.     Topgallant  sails  set. 

August  I. — Strong  gales  and  squally.  At  6  p.m.,  in  topgallant  sails,  double 
reefed  fore  and  mizen  topsails.  Heavy  sea  running.  At  4  a.m.  made  sail 
again.     Distance  334  miles. 

August  3. — Suspended  first  officer  from  duty,  in  consequence  of  his 
arrogating  to  himself  the  privilege  of  cutting  up  rigging  contrary  to  my  orders 
and  long  continued  neglect  of  duty. 

August  25. — Spoke  barque  Amelia  Pacquet  180  days  out  from  London 
bound  to  San  Francisco. 

August  29. — Lost  fore- topgallant  mast. 

August  30. — Sent  up  fore-topgallant  mast.  Night  strong  and  squally. 
6  a.m.  made  South  Farallones  bearing  north-east  J  east,  7  a.m.  took  a 
pilot.  Anchored  in  San  Francisco  Harbour  at  11.30  a.m.  after  a  passage  of 
89  days  21  hours. 

Sandy  Hook  to  equator  -  -  21  days. 

Equator  to  50°  south  -         25     ,, 

50°  South  Atlantic  to  50°  South  Pacific  7     ,, 

50°  South  Pacific  to  equator     -  -        17    ,, 

Equator  to  San  Francisco  19     ,, 

Total        -        89  days. 

Flying  Cloud's  daily  average  was  222  statute 
miles,  and  her  best  run  374  knots  in  a  corrected  day 


72  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

of  24  hours  19  minutes  4  seconds.  This  worked 
into  statute  miles  makes  the  24-hour  run  as  much  as 
427-5  miles.  In  all  she  sailed  17,597  statute  miles 
at  a  rate  of  nearly  10  miles  an  hour. 

With  this  triumph  of  Flying  Cloud's  following  so 
closely  on  that  of  Surprise,  Bostonians  must  have 
been  jubilant,  and  it  is  likely  that  New  Yorkers 
grew  thoroughly  tired  of  having  the  following  ditty 
bellowed  in  their  ears  : — 

Wide-awake  Down-Easters, 

No-mistake  Down-Easters, 

Old  Massachusetts  will  carry  the  day  ! 

From  San  Francisco  Flying  Cloud  went  across  to 
China.  On  the  first  day  out  she  had  a  favourable 
whole  sail  breeze  with  smooth  sea,  and  ran  374 
miles  under  skysails  and  stunsails  alow  and  aloft. 
For  some  reason  or  other  a  report  arose  in  America 
that  Creesy  had  died  on  the  second  day  out.  This 
stopped  an  action  for  damages  which  his  late  mate, 
— he  who  "had  arrogated  to  himself  the  privilege  of 
cutting  up  rigging" — with  the  aid  of  a  shyster 
lawyer,  hoped  to  have  ready  for  Flying  Cloud's 
captain  on  her  return.  Creesy,  however,  was  very 
much  alive,  and  ran  the  Flying  Cloud  across  to 
Honolulu  in  12  days. 

On  the  6th  of  January,  1852,  Flying  Cloud  left 
Canton  for  New  York.  When  half  way  across  the 
Indian  Ocean  she  exchanged  some  Anjer  fruit  and 
vegetables  for  New  York  newspapers,  in  which 
Creesy  had  the  pleasure  of  reading  his  own  obituary 


^gjg 


"  STAGHOUND." 


'FLYING  CLOUD." 


To  face  Page  79,. 


THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS  73 

notices.  Flying  Cloud  arrived  in  New  York  on 
loth  April,  after  a  94-day  passage.  Like  all 
Mackay's  clippers  she  excelled  in  whole  sail  and 
hard  breezes,  and  could  not  equal  some  of  the 
smaller  clippers  in  light  winds.  For  instance,  the 
A^.  B.  Palmer  left  Canton  3  days  behind  Flying 
Cloud,  yet  arrived  in  New  York  10  days  ahead. 

On  her  second  voyage  round  the  Horn  Flying 
Cloud  left  New  York  in  May,  1852.  She  took  30 
days  to  the  line  owing  to  light  winds.  Off  the 
coast  of  Brazil  she  fell  in  with  her  rival,  the  N.  B. 
Palmer.  There  was  a  light  northerly  wind,  before 
which  the  Flying  Cloud  was  running  with  every 
stitch  to  skysails  and  royal  stunsails  set.  Whilst 
Creesy  was  ogling  the  sun  through  his  sextant  for 
noon  sights,  the  N.  B.  Palmer  was  reported  6  miles 
ahead  lying  almost  becalmed.  The  dying  breeze 
lasted  long  enough  to  carry  the  Flying  Cloud  to 
within  signalling  distance  of  the  N.  B.  Palmer,  and 
Low,  who  had  sailed  8  days  after  Creesy,  reported 
that  he  had  had  a  good  run  to  the  line,  including  a 
day's  work  of  396  miles.  Until  4  p.m.  the  two 
ships  lay  side  by  side  becalmed.  As  there  was 
every  appearance  of  a  southerly  breeze  approaching, 
both  ships  took  in  their  stunsails  in  readiness. 
Creesy  had  a  fine  crew  this  voyage,  and  declared 
afterwards  that  "they  worked  like  one  man  and 
that  man  a  hero."  Low,  on  the  other  hand,  had  a 
troublesome  lot,  two  of  whom  were  already  in  irons, 


74  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

one  for  putting  a  bullet  in  his  mate,  and  the  other, 
one  of  those  fighting  Irishmen,  for  having  laid  out 
his  second  mate  with  a  capstan  bar. 

When  the  wind  came  out  of  the  southern  horizon 
both  ships  took  it  at  once  and  stood  away  on  the 
starboard  tack  with  the  yards  braced  sharp  up. 
From  a  light  ripple  the  wind  rose  to  a  fine  whole 
sail  breeze,  and  as  it  freshened  the  Flying  Cloud 
began  to  draw  ahead.  By  daybreak  next  morning 
she  had  run  the  N.  B.  Palmer  hull  down  to  leeward, 
and  by  eight  bells  in  the  afternoon  she  was  once 
more  alone  on  the  ocean.  Both  vessels  encountered 
heavy  westerly  weather  off  the  Horn,  Flying  Cloud 
eventually  arriving  in  San  Francisco  in  1 1 3  days. 

The  N.  B.  Palmer,  however,  had  put  into 
Valparaiso  to  land  her  refractory  seamen,  after  first 
tricing  them  up  in  the  rigging  and  giving  them  four 
dozen  apiece.  This,  unfortunately,  cost  5  days' 
delay,  as  it  gave  seventeen  men  the  opportunity 
to  desert,  and  Low  had  some  difficulty  in  replacing 
them.  Thus  he  was  3  weeks  behind  Flying  Cloud 
in  reaching  San  Francisco. 

This  year  the  Flying  Cloud  took  96  days  coming 
home  from  Canton,  after  sailing  on  the  ist  of 
December. 

On  her  third  voyage  she  did  nothing  very 
remarkable,  arriving  in  San  Francisco  106  days 
out  during  July,  1853.  But  on  her  fourth  voyage 
she  came  within  two  hours  of  her  maiden  passage. 


THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS  75 

Sailing  from  New  York  on  the  12th  of  January, 
her  abstract  log  was : — 

Sandy  Hook  to  the  equator  -  -  17  days. 

Equator  to  50°  south        -  -  -  25    ,, 

50°  South  Atlantic  to  50°  South  Pacific  -  -  12     „ 

50°  South  Pacific  to  equator  -  -  20    „ 

Equator  to  San  Francisco        -        -  -  'S     i> 

Total  89  days. 

This  second  record  roused  great  enthusiasm,  and 
Captain  Creesy  was  feted  in  great  style  by  the 
merchants  of  San  Francisco,  and  on  his  return  to 
New  York  he  was  entertained  at  the  Astor  House, 
then  the  best  hotel  in  the  city,  and  presented  with  a 
service  of  silver  plate  by  the  underwriters  of  New 
York  and  Boston. 

On  her  fifth  voyage  in  1855,  after  going  out  to 
San  Francisco  in  108  days.  Flying  Cloud  nearly 
ended  her  life  in  the  China  Seas  by  running  on  a 
coral  reef  when  homeward  bound  with  tea.  How- 
ever, Creesy  managed  to  float  her  and  get  her  home 
without  putting  in  anywhere,  although  she  was 
leaking  badly,  having  lost  the  shoe  off  her  keel  and 
had  the  keel  itself  cut  through  to  the  bottom 
planking.  For  this  performance  he  was  again 
presented  with  plate  by  the  underwriters,  who 
reckoned  that  by  avoiding  a  port  of  repairs  he  had 
saved  them  at  least  30,(X)0  dollars.  It  was  at  the 
end  of  this  voyage  that  Creesy  left  the  Flying  Cloud 
and  gave  up  the  sea. 

Flying  Cloud,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War, 


76  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

was  bought  by  the  English  Black  Ball  Line,  and 
ran  to  Brisbane  for  some  years.  Then  she 
descended  to  the  Canadian  lumber  trade,  and  came 
to  her  end  in  September,  1874,  being  gutted  in 
St.  John,  N.B.,  by  fire,  and  her  hull  sold  for 
breaking  up  as  being  not  worth  repairing.  She 
was  then  owned  in  South  Shields. 

The  "Challenge." 

Shortly  after  the  Flying  Cloud  had  sailed  on 
her  maiden  voyage,  the  notorious  Challenge  was 
launched  at  New  York  from  Wm.  H.  Webb's  yard 
on  the  East  River.  In  size  she  surpassed  any  ship 
yet  built  in  New  York,  and  we  are  told  that  when 
lying  at  the  foot  of  Pine  Street  her  bowsprit  at  high 
tide  poked  over  the  roofs  of  the  stores.  In  design 
she  was  meant  to  go  a  step  further  than  the  sharpest 
clipper  afloat,  and  she  had  no  less  than  42  inches  of 
dead  rise  at  half  floor.  Her  spar  and  sail  plan  was 
likewise  tremendous,  and  Captain  Clarke  says : — 
"  Her  mainmast  was  97  feet  and  mainyard  90  feet 
in  length,  and  the  lower  studding  sail  booms  were 
60  feet  long.  With  square  yards  and  lower  studding 
sails  set  the  distance  from  boom  end  to  boom  end 
was  160  feet.  She  carried  12,780  running  yards  of 
cotton  canvas,  which  was  woven  specially  for  her  by 
the  Colt  Manufacturing  Company.  Her  mainsail 
measured  80  feet  on  the  head,  100  feet  on  the  foot, 
with  a  drop  of  47  feet  3  inches  and  4gi  feet  6  inches 
on  the  leach." 


THE   CHINA   CUPPERS  77 

She  was  painted  black  with  a  gold  stripe,  and, 
unlike  other  clippers,  which  rejoiced  in  white  paint 
and  varnish  aloft,  her  masts  and  yards  were  all 
painted  black  from  the  trucks  down. 

She  was  one  of  the  most  costly  vessels  ever  built 
of  wood  in  America,  and  aroused  so  much  interest 
whilst  on  the  stocks  and  in  the  river  that  crowds  of 
people  visited  her. 

On  her  first  passage  she  was  commanded  by  the 
notorious  Bully  Waterman,  who,  after  his  success  in 
the  Sea  Witch,  had  arrived  at  the  summit  of  his 
career.  In  New  York  he  had  been  so  feted  and 
made  much  of  that  there  seems  little  doubt  that  he 
was  thrown  off  his  balance,  and  became  so  imbued 
with  his  own  importance  that  he  was  unable  to  put 
up  with  the  slightest  check  to  his  will.  The  young 
dandy,  who  used  to  swagger  down  South  Street  in 
a  Canton-made  straw-coloured  suit  of  raw  silk  and 
had  his  portrait  painted  by, a  fashionable  artist,  had 
become  nothing  more  or  less  than  a  human  tiger  if 
we  are  to  believe  any  of  the  thousand  and  one 
stories  told  of  him.  He  had  always  been  a 
desperate  sail  carrier,  yet  he  seems  to  have  become 
latterly  a  still  more  merciless  man  driver.  He  is 
said  to  have  been  the  first  man  who  padlocked  his 
sheets  and  put  rackings  on  his  halliards  in  order  to 
prevent  his  scared  crew  from  letting  things  go  with 
a  run  on  dark  nights.  Yet,  though  this  procedure 
gained  him  a  name  for  mere  reckless  cracking  on, 


78  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

he  could  proudly  boast  that  in  all  the  ships  he  had 
commanded  he  had  never  carried  away  a  spar  or 
called  upon  the  underwriters  for  a  dollar's  worth  of 
damage.  Such  a  record  no  other  American  clipper 
ship  commander  could  lay  tide  to.  The  fact  also 
that  six  men  sailed  before  the  mast  with  him  through 
all  his  voyages  in  Natchez  and  Sea  Witch  is  some 
set  off  against  the  accusations  of  severe  hazing  and 
incredible  cruelty  which  were  raised  against  him 
from  so  many  quarters.  But  I  -  fear  there  is  litde 
doubt  that  these  dauntless  six  were  either  privileged 
favourites  or  else  too  big  a  handful  for  even  Bully 
Waterman  to  tackle.  To  this  day  the  foc's'les  of 
British  and  American  sailing  ships  use  the  terrible 
deeds  of  Bully  Waterman  to  cap  the  latest  instance 
of  ill  usage  at  sea. 

However  much  American  writers  may  attempt  to 
deny  it,  the  fact  remains  that  the  American  Merchant 
Marine  has  always  been  notorious  for  its  hard 
treatment  of  the  man  before  the  mast.  Belaying 
pin  soup  had  always  been  an  institution  of  the 
Yankee  packet  ships,  and  it  was  continued  in  the 
clippers  and  other  deepwatermen,  though  in  them  it 
was  not  a  case  of  dealing  with  men  of  the  toughness 
of  packet  rats,  who  were  always  ready  to  take 
advantage  of  the  least  show  of  softness  on  the  part 
of  an  officer,  but  only  the  handling  of  a  mixed  crew 
made  up  of  dull-witted  foreigners  and  landsmen. 
For  when  that  rarity,  a  real  British  or  American 


THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS  79 

seaman  was  found  in  a  clipper,  he  was  soon  settled 
one  way  or  the  other — ^he  either  stood  up  to  the 
mates  and  cowed  them  into  leaving  him  alone,  or  he 
lost  the  number  of  his  mess  by  what  was  called  an 
accident  in  the  log  book.  And  if  this  was  the  fate 
of  the  man  who  knew  his  work  and  had  spirit  in 
him  it  may  well  be  imagined  what  was  the  lot  of 
the  wretched  Dagos  and  Dutchmen  and  the  still 
more  unfortunate  Shanghai-ed  landsmen.  Without 
mincing  words  it  was  just  sheer,  undiluted  hell  with 
the  lid  off.  It  was  not  only  work  until  you  drop, 
but  get  up  and  go  on  working  after  you  have 
dropped  under  the  blow  of  an  iron  belaying  pin. 

The  American  ships  were  noted  for  their  smart 
appearance. 

A  Yankee  ship  comes  down  Uie  river, 

Blow,  boys,  blow ! 
Her  masts  and  yards  they  shine  like  silver. 

Blow,  my  bully  boys,  blow, 

goes  the  well-known  shanty. 

No  wonder  masts  and  yards  shone  like  silver 
when  it  was  the  custom  on  some  of  these  clippers  to 
have  both  watches  scrubbing  yards  with  sand  and 
canvas  on  moonlight  nights.  Then  the  pride  that  a 
Down-East  mate  took  in  his  deck  made  a  day  watch 
below  almost  an  unknown  luxury  on  many  a  ship 
flying  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  Down  at  their  prayers 
in  the  slush  and  pulp  would  be  both  watches  hour 
after  hour  mechanically  working  the  stones,  and  not 
a  man  dared  straighten  his  back  for  a  second  unless 


80  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

he  chose  to  risk  being  crippled  for  life  by  a  heavy 
handspike.  The  usual  Yankee  mate's  method  of 
dressing  a  deck  was  first  to  scrape  and  holystone 
very  thoroughly,  then  give  a  coat  of  coal  tar,  then 
scrape  again  and  finally  holystone  until  the  deck 
came  up  as  white  as  snow.  And  how  well  the  old 
hand  knew  those  ships  with  shining  yards  and  decks 
of  snow !  How  he  avoided  such  ships  as  if  they  were 
plague-ridden.  He  well  knew  that  such  smart 
results  were  not  obtained  by  fair  methods  but  by  the 
sheer  brutal  driving  of  worn-out  men. 

I  have  been  shipmates  with  men  who  had  sailed 
for  years  in  Yankee  clippers  and  Cape  Horners,  and 
they  were  almost  invariably  poor  sailormen  yet 
incomparable  scrubbers  and  swabbers,  and  whether 
they  were  big  men  or  little,  it  mattered  not,  there 
was  no  spirit  left  in  them — it  had  been  broken  long 
ago. 

But  to  return  to  Bully  Waterman,  when  he  took 
command  of  the  Challenge,  his  reputation  was  so 
bad  that  no  real  sailorman  would  sign  with  him  of 
his  own  free  will.  In  the  Sea  Witch  he  had  made  a 
name  as  a  pistol  shot,  and  his  fondness  for  potting 
the  men  on  the  yards  had  compelled  him  to  makfe  a 
practice  of  leaving  his  ship  before  she  anchored. 

One  of  the  stories  told  of  Waterman  related  to 
Fraser  who,  after  being  mate,  succeeded  him  In 
command  of  the  Sea  Witch.  Frazer  is  said  to  have 
bluffed  him  in  his  own  cabin.     The  story  goes  that 


THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS  81 

whilst  they  were  below  together,  Frazer  produced  two 
bull-dog  pistols  and  pushing  them,  across  the  table 
to  Bully  Waterman,  said :  "  Either  you  or  I  have 
got  to  leave  this  ship." 

At  which  Waterman  at  once  knuckled  under  with 
the  remark :  "  You  are  the  only  man  I  ever  had 
any  respect  for." 

It  was  always  said  of  Waterman  that  at  the  start 
of  a  voyage,  as  soon  as  the  ship  was  clear  of  the 
shore-goers,  he  would  call  to  his  steward :  "  Bring 
me  a  bucket  of  salt  water  to  wash  off  my  shore  face," 
and  straightway  he  would  change  from  a  priggish, 
sanctimonious,  soft-mouthed  humbug  to  a  regular 
fiend  in  human  shape. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  detail  all  the  horrors  he 
is  supposed  to  have  committed,  from  casting  off  the 
lee  main-brace  in  a  Cape  Horn  snorter  and  jerking 
half-a-dozen  men  into  the  sea  to  shooting  his 
own  child. 

The  Challenge  sailed  from  Pier  19,  foot  of  Wall 

Street  in  July,  185 1,  just  a  month  later  than  Flying 

Cloud.     Her  proud  owners  went  out  with  her  as  far 

as  the    Hook,  and  before  they  left  the  ship  Bully 

Waterman  mustered  his  crew  aft.     And  whilst  the 

"  old  man "  was  making  the  usual  speech,  lauding 

the  merits  of  his  ship  for  good  grub  and  little  work, 

with  the  usual  sting  in  its  tail  as  to  the  hell  he 

would    make    it    under    certain    contingencies,    his 

officers  were  ransacking  the  foc's'le  for  black  bottles, 
G 


82  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

bowie  knives  and  bull-dog  pistols.  At  the  same 
time  the  carpenter  was  employed  breaking  the 
points  off  the  men's  sheath  knives. 

It  was  soon  found  that  out  of  a  crew  of  fifty-six  men 
and  eight  boys  there  was  scarcely  a  real  sailorman, 
owing  to  the  captain's  reputation.  Only  six  men 
could  steer  and  only  four  could  speak  English. 
With  all  their  tricks  the  crimps  had  only  been  able 
to  collect  a  rabble  of  Dagos,  Dutchmen,  Souwegians 
and  niggers,  of  whom  many  were  sick  and  the 
majority  dead-beats. 

At  the  sight  of  these  sweepings  from  all  nations, 
the  owners  seriously  proposed  that  the  Challenge 
should  put  back  for  a  fresh  crew,  but  Waterman 
would  have  none  of  it.  They  were  just  the  sort  of 
foc's'le  crowd  which  gave  him  a  chance  to  show  his 
talents. 

"  I'll  make  sailors  of  'em  or  else  mincemeat,"  he 
growled.  And  it  was  not  long  before  he  began  to 
make  good  his  words.  The  owners,  N.  L.  and  G. 
Griswold  (known  in  New  York  as  No  Loss  and 
Great  Gain  Griswold)  had  hardly  left  the  ship 
before  he  laid  open  the  darkey  steward's  scalp  with 
a  carving  knife.  From  that,  moment  never  a  day 
passed  without  blood  on  the  decks. 

The  mate,  Jim  Douglas,  a  big  block  of  a  man, 
was  as  tough  a  bucko  as  the  old  man  and  as 
headstrong. 

Another  nasty  man  to  tackle  was  the  Swedish 


THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS  83 

carpenter.  He  actually  had  the  hardihood  to  fall 
foul  of  his  captain  before  the  Challenge  was  out  of 
sight  of  Sandy  Hook. 

"You're  my  boss  here,"  grunted  Chips,  "but,  by 
gar,  if  I  had  you  ashore,  I'd  lick  you." 

"  By  the  powers,  we'll  try  it,"  responded  the  "  old 
man,"  and  lugged  off  his  coat. 

It  was  a  fair  fight  and  the  carpenter  had  the  best 
of  it.  From  that  hour  Bully  Waterman  left  him 
alone. 

In  spite  of  the  number  of  her  crew,  the  Challenge 
soon  grew  shorthanded,  and  her  sailroom  had  to  be 
cleared  out  to  house  the  sick  men,  of  whom  five 
died  and  eight  were  still  in  their  bunks  on  the  ship's 
arrival  at  San  Francisco. 

There  were  five  passengers  on  board,  and  they 
must  have  had  a  lively  passage.  Off  Rio  one  day 
they  came  on  deck  at  eight  bells  in  order  to  witness 
a  muster  of  all  hands  and  their  dunnage  by  the  mate. 

Kicking  open  the  chests,  Jim  Douglas  hove  their 
contents  out  on  the  deck.  In  those  of  the  four 
English-speaking  seamen,  he  discovered,  amongst 
the  usual  gear,  four  "prickers."  Pouncing  upon 
these,  he  held  them  up  to  view  and  sneered  :  "So 
you've  been  stealing  from  other  ships!  I'll  take 
care  of  these." 

One  of  the  four  was  an  old  man-of-war's  man,  and 
this  was  more  than  he  could  stand.  With  a  grunt 
of  rage  he  went  for  the  bucko  and  knocked  him  flat. 


84  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Whilst  this  was  going  on  Bully  Waterman  was 
up  on  the  poop  trying  to  catch  the  sun  with  an 
instrument  called  a  "  circle  of  reflection."  As  soon 
as  he  saw  his  mate  floored,  he  jumped  off  the  poop 
into  the  midst  of  the  crew,  and  struck  out  right  and 
left  with  his  circle  of  reflection  until  he  had  hope- 
lessly smashed  the  instrument. 

Another  account  says  that  he  killed  two  men  with 
an  iron  belaying  pin,  and  that  Douglas  received  no 
less  than  twelve  knife  wounds.  The  man-of-war's 
man,  however,  disappeared  in  the  general  mix-up. 

"  He's  gone  over  the  rail,"  declared  the  men. 

"  D — n  him,  I  knew  he  was  afraid  of  me,"  growled 
the  mate.  The  other  three  English-speaking  fore- 
mast hands  were  eventually  seized,  taken  into  the 
cabin  and  made  to  sign  a  statement  in  the  presence 
of  the  passengers.  After  which  they  were  tied  up 
by  their  thumbs  to  the  mizen  rigging  and  flogged. 
But  the  man-of-war's  man  was  not  found  until  the 
ship  was  off  the  Horn.  The  mate,  who  did  not 
believe  the  man  had  gone  overboard,  waited  for  an 
opportunity  to  search  the  foc's'le  whilst  all  hands 
were  on  deck.  He  chose  a  night  when  the  Challenge 
was  hove  to  under  Staten  Island  during  a  heavy 
gale.  All  hands  were  called  aft  and  made  to  stand 
by  on  the  poop.  This  was  Douglas's  opportunity. 
Taking  one  of  the  ship's  boys  with  him,  he  went 
forward  and  carefully  searched  the  foc's'le  with  a 
lantern. 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  8S 

Between  the  lower  bunks  and  the  floor,  boards 
had  been  nailed  up  enclosing  the  space  under- 
neath. These  boards  he  carefully  felt  over  with 
his  hand.  At  last  he  found  what  he  was  looking 
for — a  couple  of  knots,  showing  that  there  was  a 
becket  on  the  inside,  and  as  soon  as  he  cut  the 
knots  the  plank  gave  way  and  fell  out.  The  boy 
was  then  ordered  to  crawl  into  the  space  under  the 
bunks  and  feel  round  for  the  missing  man.  It  was 
not  a  pleasant  job  for  the  boy,  but  he  was  more 
afraid  of  the  mate  than  the  devil  himself,  so  in 
he  went. 

Presently  his  hand  touched  something  warm !  In 
a  moment  he  was  out  of  the  hole  and  scrambling  up 
the  foc's'le  ladder,  screeching  with  fright. 

And  Mr.  Bucko  Douglas  caught  the  panic,  and, 
dropping  his  lantern,  followed  the  boy ;  but  as  soon 
as  he  reached  the  deck,  he  pulled  himself  together 
and  waited. 

In  a  few  seconds  the  missing  man  appeared,  but 
on  seeing  Douglas  dropped  on  his  knees  and  begged 
for  mercy. 

Snarling  out  a  curse,  the  mate  struck  the  miserable 
wretch  with  a  heaver.  The  latter  tried  to  protect 
his  head,  with  the  result  that  his  arm  was  broken  in 
two  places. 

He  was  then  put  in  irons  and  kept  a  prisoner  on 
bread  and  water  for  the  remainder  of  the  passage, 
his  broken  arm  mending  as  best  it  could. 


86  THE   CHINA   CUPPERS 

Bully  Waterman,  like  his  mate,  had  a  partiality 
for  a  heaver  and  generally  carried  one  tied  to  his 
wrist,  just  as  a  New  York  policeman  carries  his  club. 
The  usual  victims  of  the  "  old  man's  "  heaver  were 
the  helmsmen ;  he  used  to  make  a  practice  of 
standing  behind  them  until  he  saw  an  opportunity  of 
using  it.  One  night  he  beat  three  men  into 
unconsciousness,  one  after  the  other— the  first  for 
having  dirty  hands,  and  the  other  two  for  not 
understanding  the  compass. 

The  second  mate  of  the  Challenge,  a  man  named 
Cole,  was  just  such  another  hard  nut  as  Bully 
Waterman  and  Jim  Douglas. 

Whilst  off  the  Horn  he  was  up  aloft  with  the  men 
trying  to  furl  the  mizen  topsail,  which  was  giving 
trouble  and  blowing  up  over  the  yard  ;  this  made  it 
dangerous  to  move  out  along  the  yardarm. 

"Get  those  men  out,"  yelled  the  impatient  mate 
from  below  ;  "  lay  out  on  the  yard  there." 

The  men  were  almost  frozen  and  utterly  done  up, 
so  that  the  thrashing  sail  was  altogether-  too  much 
for  them.  The  mate's  words,  however,  so  infuriated 
Cole  that  he  lost  all  control  of  himself.  Springing 
on  to  the  yard  and  holding  on  by  the  tye,  he  booted 
three  men  off  the  weather  foot-ropes. 

Two  of  them  hit  the  brace  bumpkin  and  re- 
bounded into  the  sea,  where  they  floated  for  a  short 
time  without  any  attempt  being  made  to  save  them, 
and  then  sank.      The  third  fell  on  the  poop  and 


THE   CHINA    CUPPERS  87 

lay  there  groaning.  The  angry  fury  of  a  mate 
immediately  pounced  upon  him. 

"Hi,  you!"  he  cried,  "why  ain't  you  dead? 
You  are  dead."  Then  turning  to  some  of  the  men 
on  deck,  he  asked :  "  Say  ?  Has  this  fellow  got  a 
blanket  ?  Yes !  then  bring  it  up." 

And  there  and  then  the  mate  stitched  the  living 
man  up  in  his  own  blanket  and  had  him  tossed  over- 
board^5'/«7/  groaning. 

The  Challenge  took  55  days  from  Sandy  Hook  to 
the  Horn.  The  crew  by  this  time  had  been  so 
weakened  by  sickness  and  knock-outs  that  the  yards 
threatened  to  take  charge  every  time  the  braces 
were  started  in  dirty  weather.  It  was  perhaps  lucky 
for  the  clipper  that  with  the  exception  of  a  bad  spell 
of  westerlies  rounding  the  corner,  she  had  a  passage 
of  moderate  winds  and  fine  weather. 

She  was  barely  on  the  other  side  of  the  Horn 
before  the  Fates  got  even  with  the  second  mate. 

Cole  was  bracing  the  yards  with  the  cold  eye  of 
his  skipper  watching  him  from  the  poop.  Somehow 
he  managed  to  displease  the  "old  man/'  who,  after 
warming  the  air  with  his  language,  suddenly  leapt  for 
his  second  mate,  springing  upon  him  from  th^  poop  in 
his  usual  headlong  style.  But  Cole  was  the  quicker 
with  his  fists  and  landed  his  captain  a  blow  between 
the  eyes  which  sent  him  to  the  deck.  The  mate 
then  took  a  hand  and  hurled  a  belaying  pin  at  his 
formidable  junior ;  but,  though  as  a  rule  no  man  is  a 


88  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

finer  shot  with  his  missile  than  an  American  mate,  this 
time  Douglas  missed  and  instead  of  the  greenheart 
pin  downing  the  second  mate  it  went  clean  through 
the  topgallant  rail.  Cole  was  evidently  a  nasty  man 
to  tackle,  for  the  redoubtable  Jimmy  Douglas,  on 
missing  his  shot,  thought  it  wise  to  take  to  his  heels. 
The  second  mate,  however,  soon  caught  him  and 
knocked  him  flying  into  the  foretopsail  halliards. 

Having  now  vanquished  his  two  superior  officers, 
the  valiant  Cole  faced  the  crew  and  shouted  : 

"  Here's  the  ship !  take  her  if  you  want  her." 

But  nobody  moved ;  that  was  where  the  safety  of 
a  mixed  crowd  came  in !  Cole  sized  up  the  state  of 
things  at  a  glance,  and  with  admirable  sangfroid 
quietly  resumed  his  place  as  officer  of  the  watch  as 
if  nothing  had  happened. 

About  an  hour  later  the  old  man,  having  recovered 
from  his  knock-out,  came  on  deck  again. 

Going  up  to  his  second  mate,  he  said : 

"  Come  into  the  cabin,  Mister  Cole,  I  want  to  see 
you  about  something." 

Under  the  circumstances  it  was  not  unnatural  that 
Cole  should  smell  a  rat. 

"I'm  officer  of  the  deck  and  won't  leave  it  for  any 
man,"  he  replied. 

Then  Bully  Waterman  began  to  wheedle. 

"I'll  give  you  my  word  nothing  will  happen, 
Mr.  Cole,  I  want  to  talk  to  you.  I've  forgotten  that 
other  trouble." 


THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS  89 

Cole  was  at  length  fooled  into  following  his 
captain  below.  He  came  up  again  in  about  an 
hour  and  it  was  thought  that  the  row  had  been 
patched  up. 

But  although  he  stood  his  watch  out,  and 
again  came  on  duty  for  the  six  to  eight  dog-watch, 
before  the  night  was  out  he  was  too  weak  to  stand 
up  without  help. 

The  "  old  man  "  had  given  him  a  drugged  glass  of 
grog.  Cole  saw  his  own  finish,  but,  getting  hold  of 
two  of  the  ship's  boys,  he  made  them  support  him 
whilst  he  dragged  himself  forward,  with  the  idea  of 
hiding  from  Bully  Waterman.  But  the  latter  was  on 
the  watch,  and  as  the  two  boys  were  struggling  to 
get  the  wretched  second  mate  forward,  he  slipped  up 
behind  him  and  struck  him  on  the  head  with  his  ever- 
ready  heaver.  Cole  was  then  ironed,  hands  and  feet, 
and  thrown  into  the  port  quarter  boat,  where  he  was 
kept  for  the  rest  of  the  passage  and  fed  on  bread 
and  water  like  the  unfortunate  man-of-war's  man. 

But  it  was  the  last  outrage,  the  murder  ot  a  poor 
old  Italian,  which  caused  the  San  Francisco  trial. 

"  Old  Papa,"  as  he  was  called  by  the  men,  one  day 
failed  to  show  up  on  watch.  It  was  the  afternoon 
watch,  and  Bully  Waterman,  like  a  tiger  in  search  of 
blood,  accompanied  his  mate  forwar4  in  order  to 
fetch  the  Dago  out  of  the  foe's 'le.  Pounding  on  the 
scuttle  with  his  heaver,  the  irate  skipper  yelled  for 
Old  Papa,  and  when  the  man  appeared  asked  him 


90  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

why  he  was  not  standing  watch.  By  way  of  reply 
Old  Papa  mumbled  something  in  Italian  and  pointed 
to  his  feet.  They  were  black  with  mortification! 
Someone  had  stolen  his  only  pair  of  boots,  and  he 
had  been  compelled  to  go  barefoot  through  the 
bitter  weather  of  the  Horn,  with  the  result  that  his 
feet  had  been  frozen. 

But  as  soon  as  he  began  to  mumble  Italian,  Bully 
Waterman  let  fly. 

"  Curse  you,  speak  English,  can't  you  ?  "  he  yelled 
and  straightway  struck  the  wretched  old  man  over 
the  head  with  his  heaver. 

The  Dago  dropped  as  if  he  had  been  pole-axed. 

At  this,  the  captain  roared  to  the  steward  to  bring 
some  hot  whisky  forward. 

"You  don't  need  any  whisky,"  said  the  mate 
calmly,  "  the  man's  dead." 

The  Challenge  was  34  days  running  up  to  the 
line  and  another  19  on  to  San  Francisco.  Her 
best  day's  run  during  the  passage  was  336  miles 
under  all  plain  sail  with  wind  abeam.  On  the  whole 
her  performance  was  disappointing,  yet  Biilly 
Waterman  had  spared  no  effort  in  order  to  send  her 
along.  It  is  said  that  he  never  took  his  clothes  off 
except  to  change  them,  and  made  a  practice  ot 
snatching  what  sleep  he  could  on  a  settee  in  his 
chart-room. 

As  was  customary  at  that  time  with  hell-ship 
captains.     Waterman    slipped    ashore    before    the 


THE    CHINA   CUPPERS  91 

Challenge  came  to  an  anchor.  And  it  was  well  for 
himself  that  he  did  so,  for,  as  soon  as  the  atrocities 
of  the  passage  became  known  in  San  Francisco,  a 
mob  of  red-shirted  miners  collected  in  order  to  lynch 
him  and  his  officers. 

They  first  marched  down  to  the  Pacific  Wharf 
where  the  Challenge  was  moored,  but  found  no  one 
aboard  except  old  Captain  John  Land  of  Rainbow 
fame,  who  had  been  placed  in  charge  by  the  ship's 
agents.  Putting  him  in  their  midst  the  crowd,  now 
some  two  thousand  strong,  marched  on  Alsop&  Co., 
the  agents — but  just  as  they  were  forcing  the  locked 
doors  with  crowbars,  the  Monumental  Fire  Engine 
House  began  to  ring  its  bell  in  order  to  call  out  the 
Vigilance  Committee.  Then  the  Marshall  appeared 
and  with  some  difficulty  managed  to  cool  the  wild 
temper  of  the  mob,  who  presently  dispersed  after 
having  received  a  promise  that  justice  should  be  done. 

Bully  Waterman,  as  soon  as  the  first  excitement 
was  over,  gave  himself  up.  He  was  placed  under  a 
50,000  dollar  bond,  which  was  soon  raised  to 
100,000  dollars.  Jim  Douglas  was  also  arrested. 
Both  men  had  no  difficulty  in  squaring  judges  and 
jury  at  the  trial,  and  so  escaped  punishment.  The 
case,  however,  was  too  notorious  for  Bully  Waterman 
ever  to  go  to  sea  again.  But,  fortunately  for 
himself,  he  was  very  well  off,  and  already  possessed 
a  holding  in  Solano  County,  California,  where  he  is 
said  to  have  founded  the  city  of  Fairfield. 


92  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

For  many  years  he  held  the  office  of  Port  Warden 
and  Inspector  of  Halls  in  San  Francisco.  Like 
many  another  man-driver  at  sea,  he  was  another 
being  ashore,  and  took  up  religion  with  so  much 
zeal  that  he  actually  went  about  "saving  souls." 
On  one  occasion,  when  employed  on  this  voluntary 
missionary  work,  he  boarded  a  ship  lying  in  San 
Francisco  Bay,  but,  unfortunately  for  the  old  bucko, 
some  men  who  had  sailed  with  him  happened  to  be 
among  the  crew.  These  men  threw  him  overboard, 
and  were  busy  trying  to  drown  him  by  shoving  him 
under  the  water  with  a  long  pole  when  the  harbour 
police  rescued  him.  He  died  on  his  farm  in  1884 
at  the  age  of  seventy-six. 

This  first  passage  of  the  Challenge  may  seem  too 
highly  coloured — many  may  consider  my  account  a 
great  exaggeration — but  I  fear  it  is  only  too  true, 
and  those  who  have  any  acquaintance  with  the 
American  Cape  Horn  fleet  as  it  used  to  be,  and  in 
a  few  instances  still  is,  will  not  find  anything  very 
unusual  in  the  doings  of  Bully  Waterman  and  his 
bucko  officers. 

Many  of  the  incidents  I  have  related  were  sworn 
to  at  the  trial,  yet  they  could  not  convict  in  the  face 
of  Waterman's  well  laid  out  dollars.  But  it  is  a 
significant  fact  that  neither  the  owners  of  the 
Challenge  nor  the  underwriters  ever  said  a  word  in 
defence  of  Waterman. 

With    a    new    captain,    officers,    and    crew    the 


THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS  93 

Challenge  made  a  fine  run  across  to  Shanghai  and 
loaded  tea  for  England.  There  she  was  so  much 
admired  that  her  lines  were  taken  off  for  the 
Admiralty  whilst  she  lay  in  the  Blackwall  Dock. 
Her  subsequent  career  is  shrouded  in  mystery, 
owing  to  later  clippers  being  given  the  same  name. 

The  « Comet." 

The  Comet  was  another  of  the  larger 
American  clippers.  She  made  some  very  fine 
passages  under  Captain  Gardner,  the  best  being — 

1852. — New  York  to  San  Francisco  102  days. 

Canton  to  New  York  99  days. 
1853. — New  York  to  San  Francisco  H2  days. 

(After  losing  fore  topmast  and  main  topgallantmast  in 
a  cyclone  off  Bermuda. ) 

San  Francisco  to  New  York  76  days. 
1854. — Liverpool  to  Hong  Kong  84  days. 

(Averaging  212  miles  a  day.) 

She  was  afterwards  sold  to  James  Baines,  of  the 
Black  Ball  Line  to  Australia,  and  renamed  Fiery  Star. 

On  1st  April,  1865,  she  left  Moreton  Bay  for 
London.  On  the  19th  one  of  the  men  reported  a 
strong  smell  of  smoke  in  the  foc's'le,  which  soon 
burst  forth  in  clouds,  the  fire  being  located  in  the 
lower  hold.  The  captain  (Yule)  immediately  had 
all  hatchways  battened  down  and  ventilation  pipes 
blocked  up.  The  ship  was  running  free  400  miles 
from  Chatham  Island.  A  few  days  before  a  heavy 
sea  had  made  matchwood  of  two  of  the  boats,  so 
the  weather  was  evidently  true  easting  weather. 

On  the  20th  a  steam  pump  was  rigged  down  a 
hatchway,  and  wetted  sails  were  fastened  down  over 


94  THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS 

all  vents  in  the  deck.  But  the  fire  continued  to 
gain,  and  at  6  p.m.  it  burst  through  the  port  bow 
and  waterways.  The  four  remaining  boats  were  at 
once  provisioned  and  got  over  the  side.  Seeing 
that  there  was  not  room  for  everybody,  Mr.  Sargeant, 
the  chief  officer,  four  A.B.'s,  and  thirteen  boys 
agreed  to  stand  by  the  ship,  the  remainder  of  the 
passengers  and  crew  to  the  number  of  seventy-eight 
leaving  in  the  boats  under  the  captain. 

As  soon  as  the  boats  had  left,  Mr.  Sargeant 
renewed  every  effort  to  subdue  the  fire,  and  at  the 
same  time  altered  his  course  in  order  to  get  into  the 
track  of  other  ships.  Then  for  2 1  days  he  and  his 
gallant  band  fought  the  flames  and  the  numerous 
gales  of  those  regions.  Finally,  on  nth  May, 
when  the  foremast  was  almost  burnt  through,  a  ship, 
called  the  Dauntless,  hove  in  sight  and  took  the 
men  off  the  doomed  ship. 

The  people  of  Auckland,  New  Zealand,  whither 
the  Dauntless  was  bound,  for  their  gallantry  in 
remaining  behind  presented  Sargeant  and  his  brave 
crew  with  a  testimonial  in  the  shape  of  ;^i6o, 
;^8o  going  to  the  mate  and  ;^8o  to  the  crew. 

The  captain,  with  the  four  heavily-laden  boats, 
was  also  rescued,  after  experiencing  all  the  usual 
hardships  of  hunger,  thirst,  and  bitter  weather. 

The  "Swordfish." 

The  Siuordfish  was  the  third  of  the  famous 
clippers  built  by  Wm.  H.  Webb  in  1851.     Though 


THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS  95 

only  half  the  tonnage  and  not  nearly  so  sharp-ended 
as  the  Challenge  and  Comet,  she  was  generally 
acknowledged  to  be  Webb's  masterpiece. 

She  was  commanded  on  her  first  voyage  by 
Captain  David  S.  Babcock,  the  brother-in-law  of 
the  famous  Captain  N.  B.  Palmer,  and  a  member  of 
a  very  distinguished  New  England  family. 

On  her  first  passage  out  to  San  Francisco  it  was 
arranged  that  the  Swordfish  should  race  the  new 
Mackay  crack  Flying  Fish  for  large  stakes.  The 
abstracts  of  this  race  are  worth  recording. 

Stuordfish,  Out. 

Nov.  II,  1851.— Left  New  York. 

Dec.     4,  „     — Crossed  equator     -        -  23  days. 

Dec.  26,     „     — Crossed  pari-  50°  S.        -  45     ,. 

Jan.      3,  1852.— Crossed  pari- so' S.  (Pacific)  53    ,, 

Jan.    22,  „     — Crossed  equator  (Pacific)  72    ,, 

Feb.  10,  „     — Arr.  San  Francisco         -  92    „ 

Flyit^  Fish.  Out. 

Nov.  II,  1851. — Left  Boston. 

Nov.  30,     „     — Crossed  equator     -        -  19  days. 

Dec.  26,      ,,     — Crossed  pari-  50°  S.  45    •> 

Jan.      2,  1852.— Crossed  pari- 50°  S.  (Pacific)  52    ,, 

Jan-    26,     „     — Crossed  equator  (Pacific)  76    ,, 

Feb.   17,     „     — Arr.  San  Francisco         -  98    ,, 

It  will  be  seen  that  both  vessels  made  the  run  in 
under  100  days,  SwordfisKs  time  being  within  three 
days  of  the  record  of  Flying  Cloud,  and  the  best  of 
that  year. 

From  San  Francisco  Swordfish  crossed  to  China, 
and,  loading  tea  at  Canton,  left  on  25th  September, 
and  made  the  run  home  to  New  York  in  90  days. 

On  her  second  voyage  Swordfish  was  taken  over 


96  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

by   Captain   Charles   Collins,   and   arrived   in   San 
Francisco  on  30th  May,  1853,  105  days  out. 

From  San  Francisco  she  went  across  to  Shanghai 
in  32  days  9  hours.  Below  I  give  the  abstract  of 
her  log,  which  it  will  be  of  interest  to  compare  with 
those  of  the  later  British  tea  clippers. 

Log    of    Clipper   Ship   "Swordfish"    from    San 
Francisco  to  Shan^ai. 

June  17,  1853.— Lat.  35*  25'  N.,  long.  126°  35'  W;  pilot  boat  left  2 
p.m.  ;  4  p.m.,  lost  use  of  main  topgallantsail,  stay  parted;  foggy.  Dist. 
236  miles. 

June  18. — Lat.  32°  30'  N.,  long.  132°  7'  W.  First  part  clear,  ends  foggy. 
Dist.  340  miles. 

June  19. — Lat.  30°  36'  N.,  long.  137*  34' W.  Fair  breeze,  hazy.  Dist. 
280  miles. 

June  20. — Lat.  28°  40'  N.,  long.  140°  49'  W,  Fair  breeze,  hazy.  Dist. 
250  miles. 

June  21. — Lat.  26°  53' N.,  long.  144°  23' W.  Pleasant  trades.  Dist. 
225  miles. 

June  22. — Lat.  25°  z$'  N.,  long.  147°  46'  W.  Pleasant  trades.  Dist. 
202  miles. 

June  23., — Lat.  23°  56'  N.,  long.  151°  14'  W.  Pleasant  trades.  Dist. 
201  miles. 

June  24. — Lat.  22°  49'  N.,  long.  153°  27'  W.  Light  airs  and  calms. 
Dist.  142  miles. 

June  25. — Lat.  2I°  30'  N.,  long.  156°  40'  W.  Light  airs;  5  a.m.,  "land, 
ho  ! "  Morree  Island.  Dist,  208.  Total  distance  run  2084  miles — average  per 
day  232  miles. 

June  26. — Lat.  20°  5'  N.,  long.  160°  15'  W.  Light  breeze.  2  p.m.,  in 
the  passage  of  the  islands  ;  passage  8  days  2  hours. 

June  27.— Lat.  18°  33'  N.,  long.  162°  46'  W.  Very  light  airs.  Dist. 
180  miles. 

June  28.— Lat.  18°  34'  N.,  long.  i66*  W.    Very  light  airs.    Dist.  181  miles. 

June  29.— Lat.  18°  37'  N.,  long.  170°  4'  W.    Good  breeze.    Dist.  240  miles. 

June  30.— Lat.  i8°  37'  N.,  long.  173°  21'  W.  Calm  and  light  airs.  Dist. 
igo  miles. 

July  I.— Lat.  18°  so'  N.,  long.  176°  48'  W.  Bent  old  sails;  ship  does 
not  sail  as  fast  as  with  heavy  suit ;  I J  knot  difference  by  log. 

July  2.— Lat.  18°  38'  N.,  long.  180°  W.  Light  trades  on  meridian. 
Pist.  195  miles. 

July  4.— Lat.  18°  38'  N.,  long.  176°  E.      Fine  trades.      Dist.  230  miles. 

July  S.— Lat.  i8°  43'  N.,  long.  172°  51'  E.    Light  trades.     Dist.  190  miles. 


THE   CHINA    CLIPPBRS  97 

July6.— Lat.  18°  47'  N.,  long.  169°  16'  E.  Light  trades.  Squally. 
Dist.  212  miles. 

July  7.— Lat.  18°  52'  N.,  long.  165°  251'  E.  Fair  trades.  Heavy  swell. 
Dist.  228  miles. 

July  8.— Lat.  l8°  49'  N.,  long.  161°  53'  E.  Fair  trades.  Heavy  swell. 
Dist.  210  miles. 

July  9.— Lat.  18°  42'  N.,  long.  157°  25'  E.  Fair  trades.  Pleasant. 
Dist.  262  miles. 

July  la— Lat.  18°  35'  N.,  long.  154°  38'  E.     Light  airs.     Dist.  157  miles. 

July  II.— Lat.  18°  25'  N.,  long.  150°  27'  E.  Light  airs.  Hot  and 
sultry.     Dist.  222  miles. 

July  12. — Lat.  18°  19'  N.,  long.  146*  54'  E.  Light  airs.  Hot  and 
sultry.     Ends  squally.     Dist.  229  miles. 

July  13. — Lat.  18°  20'  N.,  long.  143°  28'  E.  Light  airs.  J  ?•>"•.  "  ^^^i 
ho  ! "  Islands  of  Pagon  and  Almaguan  (Ladrones),  8  p.m.  passed  through  all 
clear.     Dist.  210  miles. 

July  14. — Lat.  18°  19'  N.,  long.  139° 57' E.  Begins  light  air,  ends  squally. 
Dist.  210  miles. 

July  15. — Lat.  19*  27'  N.,  long.  135°  38'  E.  Squally,  much  rain,  thunder 
and  lightning.     Dist.  265  miles. 

July  16. — Lat.  21°  4'  N.,  long.  131°  E.  Commences  very  warm.  2  a.m., 
sharp  chain  lightning ;  looks  very  had ;  expect  a  typhoon ;  in  all  sail  except 
close-reefed  fore  and  main  topsails ;  hattened  down  all  hatches.  Daylight, 
strong  breeze ;  overhead  clear ;  horizon  foul  and  looks  had ;  this  maybe 
caused  by  the  ship  drawing  in  between  N.E.  trades  and  S.W.  monsoons. 
The  ship  went  9  knots,  wind  abeam  under  two  close-reefed  topsails,  made  sail 
as  required.    Dist.  260  miles. 

July  18. — Lat.  27°  28'  N.,  long.  125°  14'  E.  Strong  breezes.  Midnight 
all  sail.     Dist.  253  miles. 

July  19. — Lat.  30°  50'  N.,  long,  no  observation.  36  hours  in  this  day. 
11.30  a.m.,  made  Saddle  Island.  11  p.m.,  anchored  for  daylight  off  Gntzta6F 
Island  (Shanghai  entrance).  Dist.  224  miles.  Daylight  took  Shanghai  pilot 
and  proceeded  up  Yang-tse-kiang. 

The  total  distance  run  was  7200  miles,  giving  an 
average  per  day  of  225  miles,  and  a  passage  of  32 
days  9  hours.  (It  will  be  noticed  that  3rd  Jul) 
and  1 7th  July  are  omitted  in  the  captain's  abstract.) 

On  the  following  voyage,  oh  the  usual  round  of 
California,  China  and  home,  the  Swordfish  under 
Captain  H.  N.  Osgood  logged  39,977  miles,  aver- 
aging 153  miles  a  day,  and  made  the  round  in  10 
itioiiths  and  10  days,  including  35  days  in  port. 

H 


98  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

"Flying  Fish." 

The  Flying  Fish,  Swordfish's  rival  in  1852, 
was  one  of  the  fastest  and  most  beautiful  clippers 
designed  by  Donald  Mackay,  and  her  records  were 
very  nearly  as  good  as  those  of  the  celebrated 
Flying  Cloud. 

In  1853  she  won  a  magnificent  race  out  to  San 
Francisco  against  the  John  Gilpin.    T\\&John  Gilpin 
was  designed  by  Boston's  other  great  shipbuilder, 
Sam  Hall,  and  measured   1089  tons,  thus  like  the 
Swordfish  she  was  handicapped  by  tonnage.    Under 
Captain  Doane,  she  sailed  from  New  York  on  29th 
October,  1852,  and  was  followed  by  Flying  Fish  on 
I  St  November.    It  was  the  best  season  of  the  year  for 
making   good    passages,    and   both    vessels    made 
splendid  runs  south.      The  Flying  Fish  was  actually 
down  to  the  parallel  of  5°  N.  on  the  sixteenth  day  out 
from    New   York,   and  the  following  day  lost  her 
wind  in  4"  S.,  34°  W.     Here  Nickels  made  a  great 
mistake,  for,  instead  of  standing  boldly  on  and  trust- 
ing to  slants  to  carry  him  clear  of  San  Roque,  he  did 
just  what  the  great  Maury  advised  captains  not  to 
do :   he  tried  to  work  to  the  eastward  against  the 
westerly    set  and    was   thus   held  up  in  3°  N.  by 
calms  and  doldrums  for  four  whole  days.     However, 
this  was   his  only  real  halt  in  the  whole   passage. 
On  24th  November  in  5°  S.,  the  Flying  Fish  and/oAn 
Gilpin  were  level  with  each  other,   the  latter  some 
n  miles  more  to  the  eastward,  and  the  Flying  Fish 


THE    CHINA   CUPPERS  99 

SO  close  on  the  land  that  she  had  to  take  advantage 
of  every  slant  to  stand  off  shore.  The  John  Gilpin 
in  the  best  position  for  working  S.  gained  three 
days  on  the  Flying  Fish  between  San  Roque  and  50° 
south,  but  this  the  latter  retrieved  by  getting  a  slanl 
through  the  Straits  of  Le  Maire. 

Off  the  Horn  the  two  vessels  were  in  company  for 
the  first  time,  and  the  hospitable  Nickels  actually 
invited  Doane  to  come  aboard  and  dine  with  him. 
The  Horn,  however,  does  not  allow  of  ship  visiting, 
and  Doane  remarked  in  his  log  :  "  I  was  reluctantly 
obliged  to  decline  the  invitation." 

In  the  struggle  against  the  westerlies  between 
50°  S.  and  50"  S.  the  larger  and  more  powerful  ship 
had  a  great  advantage,  and  on  this  stretch  Flying  Fish 
gained  four  days  on  her  rival. 

On  the  30th  of  December,  both  ships  crossed  the 
parallel  of  35'  S.,  the  Flying  Fish  being  in  company 
with  another  very  fast  clipper,  the  Wild  Pigeon, 
which  had  sailed  from  New  York  on  12th  October 
but  had  been  very  unfortunate  with  her  winds. 

On  the  13th  of  January,  1853,  the  Flying  Fish 
crossed  the  equator  in  112°  17'  W.,  25  miles  ahead 
of  the  Wild  Pigeon,  and  260  miles  ahead  of  the 
John  Gilpin  which  was  also  further  to  the  westward 
On  the  same  day  the  Westward  Ho,  another 
Mackay  clipper  owned  by  Sampson  &  Tappan,  and 
of  almost  the  same  tonnage  as  Flying  Fish,  crossed 
the  line  4'  further  west,  and  the  two  ships  of  almost 


100  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

thfe  same  tonnage  and  design  (the  Westward  Ha 
being  on  her  maiden  passagte)  and  owned  by  the 
same  men,  made  a  dead-heat  race  of  it  to  San 
Francisco,  arriving  on  ist  February.  Westward  Ho, 
however,  had  taken  103  days  on  the  passage,  having 
sailed  from  Boston  on  20th  Octobfer.  She  had  been 
badly  handicapped  by  a  drunken  captain,  as  the 
following  account  given  by  one  of  her  passengers^ 
a  seaman,  will  show  : — 

"  Westward  Ho  ought  to  have  done  the  run  in  90 
days.  The  captain  was  a  drunken  beast  and 
remained  in  his  cabin  for  nearly  the  whole  passage, 
boosing  on  his  own  liquor  and  that  of  the  passengers 
from  whom  he  could  beg,  and  at  last  broke  out  the 
forehold  in  search  of  liquor,  and  found  some 
champagne  cider  on  which  he  boosed  the  remainder 
of  the  passage.  We  were  off  the  River  Plate  with 
a  fair  strong  wind,  headed  east  and  north  for  several 
days,  until  there  was  nearly  a  mutiny  among  the 
passengers.  I  finally  told  the  mate  to  put  her  on 
her  course  and  we  would  back  him  up  in  any  trouble. 
The  captain  never  knew  of  any  change ;  we  lost  at 
least  10  days  by  such  delays  At  one  time  after 
passing  Cape  Horn  we  were  running  about  N.  by  W., 
wind  S.S.W.,  Idng  easy  sea  and  wind  strong  under 
topgallant  sails,  and  she  was  going  like  a  scared  dog, 
her  starboard  plank  sheer  even  with  the  water^  two 
men  at  the  wheel  and  they  had  all  they  could  do  to 
hold  her  on  her  course.     One  day  she  ran  over  400- 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  101 

knots — 17  knots  per  hour — another  day  she  ran  388 
knots.  The  drpnken  captain  was  at  once  displaced 
in  Frisco,  and  the  mate,  who  had  navigated  from 
Boston,  plaqed  in  charge.  He  made  the  run  to 
Manila  in  31  days." 

The  John  Gilpin  crossed  the  line  two  days  behind 
Flying  Fish  and  Westward  Ho,  and  making  a  wonder- 
ful run  in,  just  failed  to  catch  her  rival. 

The  abstracts  of  fhis  fine  race  were  : — 

Flying  Fish.  Out. 

Nov.     I,  1852.— Left  New  York. 

Nov.  22,     „     — Crossed  equator  -  21  days. 

Nov.  24,     „     —In  5°  S. 

Dec.  19,      „     —Crossed  50°  S.  (Atlantic)  48    „ 

Dec.  26,      „     —Crossed  50*  S.  (Pacific)  55     „ 
Dec.  30,      „    —In  35°  8. 

Jan.    13,  1853. — Crossed  equator  73    ,, 

Feb.     I,  ,,     — .'^r.  San  Francisco  92    „ 

John  Gilpin.  Out. 

Oct.    29,  1852.— Left  New  York. 

Nov.  22,      „     • — Crossed  equator  24  days. 
Nov.  24,      ,,     — In  5°  S. 

Dec.  15,  ,,     — Crossed  50°  S.  (Atlantic)  47     ,, 

Dec.  26,  „     — Crossed  50°  8.  (Pacific)  58    ,, 
Dec.  30,      „     —In  35°  8. 

Jan.    15,  1853. — Crossed  equator  -  78    „ 

Feb.     I,      ,,     — .\rr.  San  Francisco     -  94    ,, 

The  Flying  Fish,  like  most  of  Mackay's  powerful 
■designs,  did  better  in  the  Californian  trade  than  in 
the  China  trade,  and  the  following  list  of  her  passages 
to  San  Francisco  bears  comparison  with  the  work  of 
any  other  American  crack. 

1852—  98  days.  1855—105  days. 

1853-  92  „  1856—113  „ 
1854—113  ..  1857—100  „ 
1855—109  „ 


102  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

In  November,  1858,  the  Flying  Fish  was  wrecked 
on  her  way  out  of  the  Min  River,  loaded  with 
Foochow  tea  for  New  York.  She  was  abandoned 
by  the  underwriters,  and  the  wreck  sold  to  a  Spanish 
merchant  of  Manila,  who  managed  to  float  her,  and 
then  had  her  practically  rebuilt  at  Whampoa. 
Then  for  some  years  she  sailed  between  Manila  and 
Cadiz,  disguised  under  the  name  of  El  Bueno 
Suceso,  and  eventually  foundered  in  the  China  Seas. 

The  "Witch  of  the  Wave"  and  <* Nightingale." 

These  are  chiefly  celebrated  for  their  per- 
formances in  the  English  tea  trade.  They  were  of 
the  smaller  class  of  American  clipper,  and,  unlike 
the  Flying  Fish,  were  more  suited  to  the  China 
Seas  than  the  Southern  Ocean,  thus  neither  of  them 
did  anything  remarkable  in  the  Californian  trade. 

Witch  of  the  Wave  was  the  pride  of  the  interesting 
old  port  of  Salem,  where  she  was  owned.  She  was 
an  extreme  clipper,  with  40  inches  of  dead  rise,  81 
feet  of  mainyard,  and  a  90-foot  mainmast. 

The  Nightingale  had  a  somewhat  curious  history. 
She  was  originally  built  to  carry  passengers  to  the 
World's  Fair  in  London,  and  then  to  be  exhibited 
in  the  Thames  as  a  typical  American  clipper  ship. 
She  was,  therefore,  fitted  out  regardless  of  expense 
with  large  saloons  and  the  most  luxurious  cabin 
arrangements.  And  in  every  other  way  she  was  a 
most  expensively  built  vessel,  her  figurehead,  for 
instance,  being  a  most  beautifully  carved  bust  of  the 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  103 

famous  singer,  Jenny  Lind,  in  honour  of  whom  the 
vessel  was  named.  Unfortunately  for  the  promoters 
of  the  scheme,  they  fell  short  of  money  before  the 
ship  was  launched,  and  the  Nightingale  was  then 
bought  by  Sampson  &  Tappan  for  75,000  dollars. 

After  she  had  had  a  very  successful  career  in  the 
British  tea  trade,  of  which  we  shall  hear  later,  she 
was  sold  to  the  Brazilians,  who  put  her  into  the 
African  slave  trade.  After  two  or  three  years  in 
this  horrible  traffic  she  was  captured,  about  i860, 
by  an  American  gun  boat,  and  sent  home  as  a  prize. 
Then,  when  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  she  was  fitted 
as  an  armed  cruiser.  At  the  close  of  the  war  she 
went  back  to  the  Californian  and  China  trade,  and, 
years  later,  ended  her  days  under  the  Norwegian  flag. 

American  Tea  Passages  1851hh1853. 

On  the  following  page  will  be  found  a  table 
showing  the  passages  from  China  to  America  at  the 
zenith  of  the  American  tea  trade.  Also  the  per- 
formances of  other  clippers,  of  which  lack  of  space 
has  not  permitted  a  description. 

The  Rivalry  of  Great  Britain  and  America  in  the 
Tea  Trade. 

At  the  present  day,  when  the  supremacy  of 
our  Mercantile  Marine  as  the  world's  carrier  is  so 
firmly  established,  it  is  hard  to  realise  that  in  the 
forties  and  fifties  America  was  not  only  our  equal, 
but  in  many  ways  our  superior.  In  mere  numbers 
the  two  great  maritime  nations  wera  about  equal. 


104 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 


American  Tea  Trade  Passages  1851-18S3. 


Ship 

rou'ge 

Captain 

From 

Sailing 
pat? 

To 

Days 

185 

Celestial     .     . 

860 

E.  C.  Gardner 

Woosung 

Mar. 

4 

New  York 

'% 

Mandarin  .     . 

776 

Stoddard 

Canton 

April 

4 

»» 

118 

Sfa  Witch  .     . 

890 

Ftazer 

1} 

Mar. 

18 

it 

102 

Honqua      .     . 

706 

Woosung 

Aug. 

19 

»> 

129 

Staghound .     . 

IS3S 

J.  Richardson 

Canton 

Oct. 

9 

ft 

94 

Sea  Serpent     . 

1337 

W.  Rowland 

,, 

Oct. 

14 

jf 

lOI 

J08 

Panama     .     . 

670 

Woosung 

Oct. 

17 

ft 

Gazelle  .     .     . 

1244 

Henderson 

Canton 

Dec. 

14 

,, 

98 

Shooting  Star . 

903 

Baker 

j> 

Dec. 

19 

Boston 

86 

1852 

Flying  Cloud  . 

1793 

Creesy 

)) 

Jan. 

6 

New  York 

l\ 

N.  B:  Palmer. 

1490 

Low 

)) 

Jan. 

9 

>> 

Eureka .     .     . 

1050 

Canfield 

»» 

Feb. 

9 

»» 

lOI 

Mandarin  .     . 

776 

Stoddard 

Woosung 

Feb. 

19 

>) 

109 

Mermaid    .     . 

Canton 

Mar. 

12 

1* 

87 

Sea  Witch  .     . 

890 

Frazer 

jj 

Mar. 

21 

)» 

no 

Raven    .     .     . 

71S 

Henry 

u 

Mar. 

22 

)» 

107 

Syren     .     .     . 

1064 

Silsbee 

Manila 

April 

I 

)» 

103 

R.  B.  Forbes  . 

— 

Canton 

April 

3 

>» 

104 

Samuel  Russell 

940 

,, 

April 

6 

l» 

95 

Comet    .     .     . 

1836 

Gardner 

)» 

May 

3 

)l 

99 

Oriental     .     . 

1003 

Palmer 

Woosung 

Aug. 

30 

f  > 

107 

Ariel     .     .     . 

1340 

Delano 

}i 

Sept. 

2 

>) 

107 

Honqua      .     . 

706 

. 

i> 

Sept. 

14 

»» 

114 

Sivordfisk  . 

1036 

Collins 

Canton 

Sept. 

ZS 

»» 

90 

Staghound .     . 

1535 

Richardson 

tt 

Sept. 

25 

11 

95 

Sea  Serpent     . 

1337 

Howland 

n 

Oct. 

4 

)) 

88 

Witchcraft      . 

1310 

Rogers 

Woosung 

Oct. 

S 

»» 

117 

Panama      .     . 

670 

i» 

Oct. 

26 

J» 

?? 

Shoaling  Star . 

903 

Baker 

it 

Nov. 

13 

ti 

106 

Flying  Cloud  . 

1793 

Creesy 

Canton 

Dec. 

I 

,, 

96 

Atalanta    .     . 

>) 

Dec. 

14 

J> 

84 

White  Squall . 

1118 

Lockwood 

j» 

Dec. 

14 

•              S) 

"°I 

Vancouver .     . 

— 

Woosung 

Dec. 

26 

»J 

96 

'" 

1853 

Htirrieane .     . 

1607 

Very 

Canton 

Feb. 

2 

>» 

99 

Mandarin  .     . 

776 

Stoddard 

Woosung 

Feb. 

19 

*l 

89 

Sea  Witch  .     . 

890 

Frazer 

}> 

Mar. 

II 

>» 

106 

John  Wade      . 

639 

Willis 

Canton 

Mar. 

19 

)> 

106 

Southern  Cross 

95° 

Stevens 

Manila 

Mar. 

19 

ij 

106 

Raven    .     .     . 

71s 

Henry 

If 

Mar. 

23 

If 

102 

THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  105 

Our  hard  wood  ships  lasted  longer  than  their  soft 

wood  ships,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 

former  could  not  be  built  for  less  than  ;^i5  per  ton, 

whereas    the   latter   could    be    built    for    ;i{^i2    per 

ton  and  even  less.     In  model  and  design  we  had  no 

ships  that  coijld  compare  with  such  vessels  as  the 

Sea   Witch,  Honqua,  Samuel  Russell,  and  Oriental- 

Again,  in  the  cut  and  set  of  their  sails  the  Americans 

were  first  and  the  British,  along  with  the  rest  of  the 

world,    nowhere.       And    American    ships    worked 

several   men   lighter   than    British    ships    of   equal 

tonnage,  owing  to  their  use  of  deck  winches,  patent 

sheaves,    light    Manila    running    gear,    and    large 

blocks,    where    we    were    content    with    common 

sheaves,    stiff   hemp    gear,    and    the    hard-worked 

handy  billy. 

But  there  were  very  good  reasons  for  this  lack  of 
enterprise  on  our  part.  The  chief  of  these  reasons 
were  our  prehistoric  tonnage  and  navigation  laws. 
The  tonnage  law — which  dated  from  1773,  and 
was  not  radically  altered  until  1854 — encouraged 
a  very  bad,  slow  type  of  ship,  as  only  length  and 
breadth  were  taxed  and  not  depth,  thus  the  usual 
cargo  carrier  was  far  too  short  and  too  deep,  and 
ships  of  proper  dimensions  were  so  handicapped  by 
tonnage  dues  that  they  were  practically  non-existent 
except  in  the  rich  opium  trade.  As  soon  as  this 
law  was  revoked,  and  Moorsom's  plan  of  internal 
measurement — the  outcome  of  which  is  our  present 


106  THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS 

registered  tonnage — was  adopted,  it  was  at  once 
found  that  the  alteration  was  more  advantageous  to 
the  shipowner  than  the  old  law,  besides  giving  the 
builder  more  latitude  to  ^how  his  talents. 

The  navigation  laws,  which  were  so  protective 
as  to  give  owners  no  inducement  to  make  improve- 
ments, were  repealed  in  1849.  Free  trade  was 
adopted  in  spite  of  the  strenuous  opposition  of  the 
shipowner,  and  our  foreign  markets  thrown  open  to 
the  world.  The  American  clippers  at  once  took 
advantage  of  the  chance  to  enter  the  British  tea  trade. 

The  *« Oriental"  Loads  Tea  for  the  British 
Market. 

This  vessel  caused  as  great  a  sensation  in 
England  as  the  Rainbow  and  Sea  Witch  had  caused 
in  American,  being  the  first  American  ship  to  enter 
the  West  India  Docks  tea  laden  after  the  repeal  of 
the  navigation  laws.  In  appearance  she  was  a 
big  edition  of  Samuel  Russell.  Her  measurements 
were: — Length  185  feet,  beam  36  feet,  depth  21 
feet.  Her  poop,  which  was  stored  with  tea  on  the 
homeward  run,  was  45  feet  long.  She  was  a 
shortish  ship  with  a  moderate  clipper  bow,  support- 
ing very  long  bowsprit  and  jibbooms,  and  the 
heavy  looking  American  stern.  Like  all  American 
clippers  she  crossed  skysail  yards. 

She  left  New  York  on  the  14th  September,  1849, 
on  her  maiden  voyage,  and  reached  Hong  Kong  by 
the  Eastern  Passage  on  ist  January,  1850,  109  days 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  107 

out.     Sailed  from  China  on  the  30th,  and  ran  home 
to  New  York  in  81  days. 

On  her  second  voyage  she  was  commanded  by 
Captain  T.  D.  Palmer,  his  brother  having  retired 
from  the  sea.  By  this  time  Theodore  Palmer  had 
evidently  learnt  to  drive  a  ship,  for  on  this  voyage 
he  made  both  his  own  name  and  that  of  the  ship. 

On  the  passage  out  she  left  New  York  on  19th 
May,  1850;  had  very  scant  N.E.  trades;  crossed 
the  line  in  long.  30^°  W.,  25  days  out ;  log  to  the 
line  3904  ;  best  day's  run  264  miles.  Took  45  days 
to  Cape  Meridian.  Best  run  from  the  line  to  the 
Cape  Meridian  300  under  double  reefs  part  of  the 
time,  the  breeze  N.W.  fresh.  From  lat.  42°  S., 
long.  31°  E.  to  long.  97°  E.,  she  averaged  264  miles 
a  day,  best  day  302,  worst  228,  for  10  days. 
Passed  St,  Paul's  Island  58  days  out.  Reached 
Anjer  29th  July,  71  days  out,  and  arrived  Hong 
Kong  8th  August,  81  days  out,  averaging  200 
miles  a  day. 

After  this  very  fine  performance  three  of  the 
biggest  tea  firms  in  England  gave  their  agents 
orders  to  secure  her  at  any  price,  and  she  was  at 
once  chartered  through  Russell  &  Co.  at  jC6  per  ton 
of  40  cubic  feet,  whilst  British  ships  lay  waiting  for 
tea  at  ;^3  los.  per  ton  of  50  cubic  feet. 

The  Oriental  loaded  1 1 1 8  tons  of  tea,  her  freight 
amounting  to  £^tcxi — almost  three-quarters  of  her 
original  cost. 


lOS  THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS 

She  left  Hong  Kong  on  28th  August,  had  a 
strong  S.W.  monsoon,  and  yet  beat  down  to  Anjer 
in  21   days. 

She  signalled  the  Lizard  91  days  out,  and  on 
3rd  December  hauled  into  the  West  India  Docks 
97  days  from  Hong  Kong.  This  wonderful  sailing 
caused  great  e:f:citement  in  English  shipping  circles, 
and  all  kinds  of  gloomy  notices  appeared  in  the 
papers,  predicting  the  extinction  of  the  Brijtish 
Mercantile  Marine,  etc.  The  Admiralty  surveyors 
were  even  sent  down  to  take  off  her  lines  whilst  she 
lay  in  the  dry  dock  at  Blackwall. 

The  Aberdeen  Clipper  Model. 

In  the  general  despondency  amongst  ship- 
owners, there  seemed  to  be  only  one  spark  of  hope, 
and  that  was  in  the  Aberdeen  model.  On  all  hands 
it  was  admitted  that  no  other  type  of  ship  could 
possibly  rival  the  performance  of  the  Oriental. 

The  Aberdeen  model  was  devised  by  Alexander 
Hall,  a  shipbuilder  of  that  town,  as  far  back  as  1841. 
It  was  a  very  simple  improvement,  and  merely  con- 
sisted in  carrying  out  the  stem  to  the  cutwater  and 
giving  a  "ship  a  long  sharp  bow  instead  of  the  old- 
fashioned  apple-cheeks. 

The  first  vessel  built  by  Alexander  Hall  on  this 
plan  ran  between  Aberdeen  and  London,  and  soon 
made  a  great  reputation  by  the  rapidity  of  her 
passages. 

Between  1841  and  1850  Messrs.  Hall  launched  no 


THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS  109 

fewer  than  50  vessels,  averaging  600  tons  apiece, 
from  the  clipper  schooner  Torrington  for  the  Chinese 
opium  trade  to  the  humble  coaster.  Their  model 
was  soon  followed  by  other  Aberdeen  shipbuilders, 
the  best  known  being  Hood,  the  designer  and  builder 
of  the  famous  clippers  of  the  Aberdeen  White  Star 
Line,  running  to  Australia  and  China. 

Amongst  these  was  xh&John  Bunyan  of  470  tons, 
whose  99  days  coming  home  from  Shanghai  in  the 
spring  of  1850  was  overshadowed  by  that  of  the 
Oriental',  certainly  the  John  Bnnyan  had  a  fair 
monsoon,  but  then  Shanghai  is  some  days  further  up 
the  coast  than  Whampoa. 

Two  other  Aberdeen  clippers,  the  Reindeer  of  328 
tons,  and  the  Countess  of  Seafield  o{  \$o  tons,  made 
passages  of  under  no  days  from  Whampoa  in 
Oriental's  year. 

The  Reindeer,  commanded  by  Captain  Anthony 
Enright,  was  the  first  vessel  to  arrive  with  new  teas 
in  1850,  having  made  the  voyage  out  to  China  and 
back  in  7  months  28  days. 

Her  owners,  Messrs.  Fear  &  Vining,  were  so 
pleased  that  they  presented  Captain  Enright  with  a 
chronometer. 

"Stornoway"  and  "Chrysolite." 

The  immediate  results  of  Orientats  success 
were  further  orders  to  Alfexahder  Hall.  Jardine, 
Matheson  &  Co.  ordered  the  Stornaway,  and 
"taylor  &  Potter,  of  Liverpool,  ordered  the  Chrysolite. 


110  THE    CHINA    CUPPERS 

These  two  ships  have  usually  been  spoken  of  as 
the  first  of  the  British  tea  clippers. 

In  design  they  had  nothing  in  common  with  the 
great  American  clippers.  The  chief  difference  being 
the  narrow  beam  of  the  Aberdeen  ships,  which  is 
well  shown  in  the  following  comparison  of  beams 
to  length  : — 


Sea  Witch, 

■     .  S-oi 

Storrwway, 

6.10 

Surprise, 

4.87 

Chrysolilt, 

5- 70 

Oriental, 

S-I3 

This  lack  of  beam  made  them  far  less  powerful  in 
heavy  weather,  and  they  could  not  be  driven  in 
strong  breezes  like  the  Americans.  Indeed,  they  had 
so  little  bearing  forward  that  they  went  through  the 
seas  rather  than  over  them,  and  gained  a  bad 
reputation  for  washing  men  off  the  jibboom  when  the 
huge  jib  of  that  day  had  to  be  handed. 

At  the  same  time  they  were  undoubtedly  faster 
and  more  weatherly  than  the  Americans  in  moderate 
breezes. 

The  Stornoway  was  the  first  of  the  two  to  leave 
the  ways.  She  was  commanded  by  the  crack  racing 
skipper  of  his  day,  Robertson,  who  had  come  from 
the  John  o  Gaunt,  which  with  the  Foam,  Alexander 
Baring,  Euphrates,  and  Monarch  had  been  the  pick 
of  the  British  tea  fleet  in  the  forties. 

He  took  her  out  to  Hong  Kong  in  102  days,  and 
brought  her  home  from  Whampoa  in  103  days. 

•'Chrysolite's"  Maiden  Voyage,  1851. 

The    Chrysolite    also   made    a    very    good 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  111 

passage  out  to  Hong  Kong  of  102  days,  though  she 
had  a  very  bad  time  running  her  easting  down. 
Captain  Enright  described  his  experience  as 
follows : — 

"In  the  Indian  Ocean  we  had  a  gale  from  the 
west,  and  the  tremendous  seas  that  incessantly  swept 
over  the  stern  caused  great  injury  to  some  of  my 
men.  My  chief  officer  had  his  skull  severely  hurt. 
I  did  my  best  to  plaster  and  bandage  up  the  wound, 
but  had  scarcely  done  it  before  I  was  called  to  attend 
to  one  of  the  men  who  had  his  thigh  broken.  We 
shortened  sail  and  lay  to  for  a  while,  and  I  set  the 
limb  as  well  as  I  could. 

"Altogether  six  of  the  men  were  severely  injured 
by  the  heavy  sea,  and  I  know  not  how  I  escaped 
as  all  through  that  dark  night  I  stood  watching  the 
steering.  At  daylight  we  sighted  St.  Paul's  Island, 
and  now  saw  that  our  misfortunes,  by  stopping  the 
ship,  had  probably  been  the  means  of  saving  our 
lives.  Had  we  not  laid  to  at  the  time  we  did,  we 
should  have  been  thrown  on  to  the  island,  and  in 
that  dark  night  and  furious  sea  not  one  of  us  could 
have  escaped."  Chrysolite  was  only  80  days  to 
Anjer  compared  to  the  Oriental's  89  days,  which 
was  considered  to  be  a  record. 

From  Hong  Kong  the  Chrysolite  proceeded  to 
Whampoa  to  discharge  her  cargo ;  and  she  barely 
had  emptied  her  hold  when  the  American  clipper 
Memnon  passed  her  going  down  the  river  with  a 


Missing  Page 


Missing  Page 


114  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

it  led  to  his  ship's  destruction.  Macclesfield  Strait, 
which  lies  between  Banca  and  Pulo  Leat,  was  one 
of  those  favourite  short  cuts  used  by  the  racing  tea 
skippers,  but  its  navigation  was  very  dangerous, 
especially  at  night,  owing  to  a  rock  called  "Discovery 
Rock,"  which  lies  in  the  centre  of  the  channel  and 
only  has  a  few  feet  of  water  above  it. 

All  that  night  the  wind  blew  fiercely  from  S.W., 
and  both  ships  beat  to  windward  under  all  sail,  the 
Chrysolite  slowly  gaining  until  she  lost  sight  of  her 
rival  in  a  heavy  squall.  That  squall  was  fatal  to 
the  Memnon,  a  beautiful  ship  of  looo  tons  built  by 
Smith  &  Dimon,  of  New  York,  in  1848  for 
Warren  Delano. 

Being  forced  into  shallow  water  she  let  go  both 
anchors,  but  in  spite  of  them  she  began  to  bump  on 
the  hard  coral  bottom  and  a  hole  was  soon  stove  in 
her.  She  was  held  hard  and  fast  aft,  though  she 
had  8  fathoms  of  water  under  the  bow,  and  it  was 
soon  found  impossible  to  keep  the  water  out  of  her. 
At  daylight  the  ship  was  boarded  by  plundering 
Malays,  and  a  number  of  the  crew,  who  were  mostly 
Malays  and  Portuguese  shipped  at  Macao,  joined 
the  wreckers  in  stripping  the  ship. 

Upon  which.  Captain  Gordon,  who  was  helpless 
in  the  face  of  their  numbers,  saw  nothing  for  it  but 
to  abandon  the  ship,  and  he  shortly  set  off  for 
Gaspar  Island  with  the  three  boats  under  the  com- 
mand of  himself  and  his  two  mates.     In  his  own 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  115 

boat  he  had  his  wife  and  her  maid.  Unfortunately 
they  had  not  furnished  the  boats  with  enough  water 
and  owing  to  the  heat  suffered  very  much  from 
thirst.  They  landed  on  the  N.W.  side  of  the 
island  and  luckily  found  water  there.  Captain 
Gordon  at  once  established  a  lookout  and  also  sent 
his  bo's'n  away  to  Singapore  to  procure  help.  He 
then  left  his  people  encamped  on  the  island  and 
went  back  to  the  wreck,  but  found  the  Memnon  full 
of  water  and  stripped  of  everything  movable. 

After  six  days  on  Caspar  Island  the  shipwrecked 
crew  were  rescued  by  the  barque  Jeremiah  Garrett, 
which  in  turn  transferred  them  to  the  brig  J.  M. 
Casselly,  bound  for  Singapore,  where  they  arrived 
with  little  more  than  the  clothes  they  stood  up  in. 

Meanwhile  the  Chrysolite  had  made  a  fair  passage 
to  Mauritius,  off  which  island  she  experienced  the 
most  terrific  electric  storm  which  lasted  three  days, 
during  which  time  the  sky  was  pitch  black  with  the 
exception  of  the  vivid  lightning,  the  rain  fell  like  a 
waterspout  and  the  ship  was  shaken  like  a  leaf  by 
the  tremendous  rolling  of  the  thunder. 

Crossing  the  trades  she  made  the  following 
runs: — 235,  264,  260,  180,  172,  225,  289,  290,  236, 
230,  320,  260,  200,  212,  and  268  miles — which  was 
wonderful  work  for  a  vessel  of  her  size.  Going  free 
under  all  sail  she  logged  a  steady  12J  to  13I  knots, 
and  went  up  to  14  for  limited  periods;  on  the  wind 
her  best  speed  was  at  the  rate  of  10^  knots. 


116  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

On  6th  November  in  8°  N.,  the  Chrysolite  fell  in 
with  the  homeward  bound  British  frigate  Havannah 
and  the  clipper  ship  Fly,  both  noted  sailers.  The 
three  ships  were  in  company  for  i8  days,  the  little 
white  tea  clipper  maintaining  a  lead  of  from  2  to  5 
miles.  One  day  in  calm  weather  Captain  Enright 
actually  dined  aboard  the  Havannah,  whose  officers 
declared  that  the  Chrysolite  was  the  only  vessel  that 
had  been  able  to  hold  them  during  the  whole  of 
their  commission,  and  they  were  so  convinced  of  her 
superiority  that  they  gave  him  their  letters  to  post 
on  her  arrival  in  England. 

The  three  ships  finally  parted  company  700  miles 
south  of  the  Western  Isles,  the  Chrysolite  losing 
sight  of  the  Havannah,  which  was  then  10  miles  off 
on  her  lee  beam,  in  a  squall. 

Passing  the  Azores  the  tea  clipper  had  the  mis- 
fortune to  lose  all  three  topgallant  masts  in  a  heavy 
puff.  A  ship  named  the  Adriatic  was  in  company 
at  the  time,  and  Captain  Enright  asked  her  in  vain 
to  lend  him  some  spars ;  however  he  refitted  as  best 
he  could  and  eventually  had  his  revenge  by  arriving 
first  by  some  days. 

The  Chrysolite  entered  the  Princes  Dock, 
Liverpool,  on  ist  December,  103  days  out  from 
Whampoa,  after  a  remarkable  maiden  voyage, 
during  which  she  had  run  29,837  miles  in  206  days. 

Her  owners  were  so  pleased  that  they  gave 
Enright  a  gratuity  of  ;^5o.     At  the  same  time  the 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  117 

ship's  sailing  so  impressed  brokers  that  she  was  able 
to  command  a  guinea  extra  freight. 

The  Challenge  of  the  American  Navigation  Club. 

Though  the  American  vessels  sailing  from 
China  in  the  summer  of  185 1,  with  tea  for  London, 
did  not  make  better  passages  than  either  the 
Stomoway  and  Chrysolite,  they  still  continued  to 
command  the  best  freights  and  to  excite  great 
admiration  in  the  London  docks. 

Stirred  by  the  success  of  their  clippers,  and  at  the 
same  time  not  a  litde  by  the  victory  over  English 
yachts  gained  by  their  wonderful  schooner,  the 
America,  the  American  Navigation  Club,  which 
had  no  duplicate  in  England,  issued  a  challenge  to 
the  British  shipbuilders  and  owners,  the  conditions 
of  which  were  that  "two  ships  should  be  modelled, 
commanded  and  officered  entirely  by  citizens  of  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  respectively,  and 
that  they  should  sail  with  cargo  on  board  from  a 
port  in  England  to  a  port  in  China  and  back  to 
the  English  port,  the  prize  for  the  winning  vessel 
to  be  £\o,QXXi,  and  to  be  paid  without  regard  to 
accidents  or  to  any  exceptions."  There  was  also 
a  stipulation  made  that  the  ships  should  not  be 
under  800  tons  or  exceed  1200  tons  American 
register.  This  challenge,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  was 
never  taken  up  by  British  shipowners,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  the  President  of  the  American 
Navigation   Club  offered  to  raise  the  prize  money 


118  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

to   ^20,000    and    to    give    the    British   vessel    14 
days'  start, 

Dicky  Green  and  the  <*  Challenger.** 

It  was  Richard  Green,  of  the  famous 
Blackwall  Line,  who  first  put  heart  into  the 
British  shipowner.  He  had  been  one  of  the  few 
people  interested  in  shipping  who  had  supported  the 
Government  in  the  repeal  of  the  navigation  laws. 
During  1851,  at  a  large  city  dinner,  he  rose  to  speak 
after  the  secretary  of  the  American  Legation,  who  had 
made  the  usual  complimentary  international  speech. 

"We  have  heard,"  said  Dicky  Green,  "a  great 
deal  to-night  about  the  dismal  prospects  of  British 
shipping,  and  we  hear,  too,  from  another  quarter,  a 
great  deal  about  the  British  lion  and  the  American 
eagle,  and  the  way  in  which  they  are  going  to  lie 
down  together.  Now  I  don't  know  anything  about 
that,  but  this  I  do  know  that  we,  the  British  ship- 
owners, have  at  last  sat  down  to  play  a  fair  and 
open  game  with  the  Americans,  and,  by  Jove,  we'll 
trump  them." 

And  he  was  as  good  as  his  word,  for  he 
immediately  set  about  building  a  tea  clipper,  which 
he  aptly  named  the  Challenger.  This  vessel  was 
sent  out  to  China  in  time  for  the  new  teas  of  1852. 

The  "Challenger"  and  the  "ChaUenge." 

The  year  1852  was  a  remarkable  one  for  the 
keenness  of  the  racing  between  the  tea  clippers  of 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  119 

the  two  nationalities,  and  Challengers  part  in  this 
rivalry  was  a  very  big  one. 

After  loading  tea  at  Shanghai  she  fell  in  with  the 
famous  Challenge,  a  vessel  of  nearly  three  times  her 
size,  at  Anjer,  the  Challenge  being  homeward  bound 
with  Canton  tea.  The  two  vessels  left  Anjer  on 
the  same  day,  and  when  this  was  telegraphed  home 
tremendous  stakes  were  wagered  as  to  which  should 
be  the  first  arrival  in  London ;  it  was  even  rumoured 
that  the  loser  was  to  be  forfeited  to  the  winner. 

After  a  very  smart  run  the  little  Challenger  just 
succeeded  in  beating  the  big  Challenge  into  dock  by 
two  days,  their  actual  times  being  :— 

challenger,  Shanghai  to  London,  113  days. 
Challenge,  Whampoa  to  London,   105  days. 

Though  beaten  by  two  days  in  her  time  from  Anjer, 
the  Challenge  actually  made  the  shortest  passage, 
but  when  one  allows  the  difference  in  mileage 
between  Shanghai  and  Whampoa  it  will  be  seen  that 
there  was  very  little  to  choose  between  the  passages 
of  the  two  vessels. 

Curiously  enough,  as  if  in  support  of  the  forfeit 
rumour,  all  trace  of  the  Challenge  seems  to  be  lost 
after  this  race.  She  went  into  the  Blackwall  Dock, 
where  her  lines  were  taken  off,  as  those  of  the 
Oriental  had  been,  and  many  people  declared  that 
she  came  out  under  the  name  of  the  Result. 

The  Result  certainly  was  a  big  American-built 
ship,  bought  by  Greens  to  take  part  in  the  booming 


120  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Australian    trade;     but    she    was    a    smaller    ship 
altogether  from  the  Challenge. 

A  more  likely  story  was  that  Messrs.  Green 
bought  her  with  the  money  won  over  the  race. 
This,  however,  does  not  throw  any  light  on  the 
after  life  of  the  Challenge,  for  which  later  vessels, 
named  after  her,  have  often  been  mistaken. 

One  of  these  was  a  1 200-ton  ship,  built  in  Quebec 
in  1863.  Another  was  a  clipper  called  the  Golden 
Age,  which  in  her  last  days  was  renamed  the 
Challenge.  This  vessel  there  was  some  excuse  for 
confusing  with  the  original  Challenge,  as  she  was 
exceedingly  fast,  with  the  tall  reputation  of  having 
run  22  knots  an  hour,  and  at  the  same  time  was 
terribly  strained  from  hard  driving.  She  was, 
however,  a  flush-decked  ship  with  an  inner  rail  a 
few  feet  in  from  the  covering  board,  and  only 
resembled  the  real  Challenge  in  the  length  of  her 
mainyard. 

Naval  science  of  July,  1873,  gives  the  following: — 
10th  July,  1868,  Challenge  left  Shanghai,  arrived 
London  131  days  out.  6th  August,  1869,  Challenge 
left  Shanghai,  arrived  London  148  days  out. 

These  passages  may  possibly  be  those  of  the  real 
ship,  but  it  is  more  likely  that  they  refer  to  a  British- 
built  clipper  barque  of  some  500  tons.  So  I  fear  I 
must  leave  the  fate  of  the  notorious  Challenge 
unsolved,  in  the  hope  that  one  of  my  readers  may 
be  able  to  shed  light  upon  it. 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  121 

"Witch  of  the  Wave's"  Passage  Home  in  18S2. 

The  best  passage  in  1852  between  China 
and  London  was  made  by  the  Salem  clipper  Witch 
of  the  Wave,  Captain  Millett.  But  it  is  slightly- 
discounted  by  the  fact  that  she  sailed  in  the  height  01 
the  N.E.  monsoon,  which  took  her  from  Whampoa 
to  Java  Head  in  7  days  12  hours,  a  record  time. 
Loading  19,000  chests  of  the  choicest  tea,  she  sailed 
from  the  Canton  River  on  5th  January.  On  13th 
January  she  had  cleared  Sunda  Strait,  and  she  was  29 
days  between  Java  Head  and  the  Cape,  her  best  run 
crossing  the  trades  being  338  miles.  The  last  part 
of  the  passage  was  rather  interfered  with  by  easterly 
winds,  and  she  was  four  days  beating  up  channel. 
She  took  her  pilot  off  Dungeness  on  the  4th  of 
April,  and  docked  90  days  out  from  China. 

Whilst  she  was  lying  in  the  river  she  attracted 
gi'eat  attention,  and  her  bows  and  general  appearance 
were  considered  to  resemble  those  of  the  famous 
America. 

Her  wonderful  passage  caused  American  ships  to 
be  more  popular  than  ever  amongst  shippers  in 
China,  the  Chrysolite,  Stornoway,  and  Challenger 
being  the  only  British  ships  which  were  taken  up  to 
load  new  teas. 

Race  between  "Stornoway"  and  "Chrysolite." 

Stornoway  and  Chrysolite  both  loaded  tea 
at  Whampoa.  Whilst  waiting  to  load,  Captain 
Enright  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  very  interesting 


122  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

personality,  namely,  General  Garibaldi,  who  was 
then  in  command  of  a  Chilean  barque  of  450  tons. 
General  Garibaldi  had  been  brought  up  as  a  sailor, 
and  it  was  to  the  sea  that  he  generally  returned 
after  the  success  or  failure  of  his  guerilla  campaigns 
in  the  cause  of  liberty.  When  Enright  met  him  he 
was  still  mourning  the  death  of  his  wife,  Anetta, 
who  had  died  in  his  arms  through  exposure  in  an 
open  boat  on  the  Adriatic,  when  they  were  fleeing 
from  the  French.  And  he  told  Enright  with  tears 
of  grief  and  rage  how,  when  he  had  buried  her  in 
the  sand  at  the  back  of  a  farmhouse,  the  French 
had  exhumed  her  body  thinking  to  find  his  hidden 
treasure.  Strangely  enough,  when  a  boy,  Garibaldi 
had  sailed  in  a  vessel  belonging  to  Enright's  uncle, 
and,  with  this  as  a  bond  between  them,  the  two 
men  struck  up  a  great  friendship. 

Getting  away  together  on  the  9th  of  July, 
Stornoway  and  Chrysolite  were  in  company  for  21 
days  down  the  China  Sea,  neither  ship  proving  able 
to  give  the  other  the  slip. 

Of  this  race  to  Anjer,  Captain  Enright  remarked 
in  his  personal  log  :  "I  remained  on  deck  night  and 
day  in  a  bamboo  chair,  made  fast  to  the  skylight. 
I  nodded  occasionally,  but  only  when  I  dared  allow 
myself  a  few  moments'  rest  from  my  ceaseless 
watching  of  the  wind  and  course.  However,  all  my 
efforts  to  get  ahead  were  unavailing,  the  Stornoway 
being  the  larger  vessel  and  better  sailer." 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  123 

It  was  a  ding-dong  race  in  spite  of  this  admission 
of  Enright's,  the  two  vessels  being  in  company  for 
no  less  than  45  days  altogether,  but  in  the  last  lap 
the  best  winds  fell  to  Chrysolite,  and  she  arrived 
first,  docking  in  Liverpool  on  22nd  October,  104 
days  out.  Stornaway  reached  the  Downs  three  days 
later,  107  days  out. 

The  Chrysolite  was  the  first  ship  in  with  the  new 
tea  of  the  season,  and  Captain  Enright  again 
received  a  gratuity  from  his  owners. 

So  great  was  the  demand  for  her  tea  that 
the  Liverpool  Mercury  records :  "  Chrysolite  was 
docked  on  Saturday  morning  at  9  o'clock,  and 
before  night  a  considerable  portion  of  the  cargo  was 
landed,  weighed,  duty  paid,  and  about  100  chests  of 
tea  were  on  their  way  to  distant  parts  of  the 
Kingdom,  and  a  quantity  of  it  was  in  the  hands 
of  retail  dealers  in  the  town,  so  that  no  doubt  it 
was  actually  upon  the  tea  tables  of  some  of  the 
people  of  Liverpool  the  same  night — an  instance  of 
despatch  unparalleled  in  this  or  any  other  port  of 
the  Kingdom." 

Best  Tea  Passages  of  1852. 

Two  other  American  ships  besides  the 
Witch  of  the  Wave  and  Challenge  made  good 
passages  this  year.  The  Surprise,  Captain 
Dumaresq,  left  Whampoa  on  19th  July,  and 
arrived  at  Deal  on  2nd  November,  106  days  out, 
whilst  the  Nightingale  came  home  from  Shanghai 


124  THE   CHINA    CUPPERS 

in    no    days,    this   being    the    best   passage   from 
that  port. 

It  seems  that  there  was  a  lot  of  wrangling  this 
year  as  to  which  ship  could  claim  the  best  passage 
home  in  the  S.W.  monsoon.  And  so  convinced 
were  the  owners  of  the  Nightingale  of  their  vessel's 
superiority,  that  they  challenged  the  world  for  a 
;^ 1 0,000  China  race,  but  though  their  challenge 
was  directed  against  American  clippers  as  much  as 
English,  like  that  of  the  American  Navigation  Club, 
it  met  with  no  response. 

'  Cairngorm." 

Noticing  the  way  in  which  their  little  clippers 
were  handicapped  when  in  competition  with  the 
Americans,  which  were  usually  about  double  their 
tonnage,  Messrs.  Hall,  of  Aberdeen,  in  the  winter 
of  1852,  laid  down  a  1000-ton  clipper  with  finer 
lines  and  stronger  scantling  than  anything  they  had 
built  up  to  that  date.  They  also  used  iron  for  the 
main  deck  beams  and  half  of  the  hold  beams,  which 
gave  more  room  for  stowage. 

This  vessel,  which  was  called  the  Cairngorm,  was 
bought  by  Jardine,  Matheson  &  Co.,  who  placed 
Captain  Robertson  of  the  Stornaway  in  command. 

The  Cairngorm  has  been  given  the  credit  of 
being  the  first  British  clipper  which  really  could 
rival,  if  not  excel,  the  wonderful  American  ships. 
Nautical  writers  of  the  day  declared  that  not  only 
did  she  beat  them  on  time,  but  that  owing  to  the 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  125 

superior  strength  of  her  build  she  delivered  her  tea 
in  much  better  condition. 

Tea  Passages  of  1853. 

The  Cairngorm,  on  her  first  voyage,  loaded 
tea  in  Shanghai,  and  made  the  best  homeward 
passage  of  the  year  from  that  port,  her  time  being 
under  no  days. 

She  was  closely  followed  by  the  little  Challenger, 
which  arrived  in  London  on  3rd  December,  no 
days  out,  having  handsomely  beaten  the  American 
clippers  Nightingale  and  John  Bertram  and  won 
;^400o  in  stakes. 

The  Americans,  however,  were  revenged  by  the 
little  Baltimore  wonder,  Architect,  which  arrived  in 
the  Downs  from  Whampoa,  107  days  out,  and  had 
sold  her  cargo  before  the  arrival  of  the  first  Britisher 
from  that  port,  amongst  the  vanquished  being  the 
Chrysolite  and  Stornaway,  and  such  noted  fast  ships 
as  the  Hero  of  the  Nile.  This  performance  gained 
Architect  £2  per  ton  extra  freight  on  her  next 
tea  passage. 

"Lord  of  the  Isles"  and  «Northfleet." 

In  the  year  1853  two  very  celebrated  ships 
were  built  for  the  China  trade.  The  first  of  these 
two  was  the  Lord  of  the  Isles,  one  of  those  vessels 
which  was  in  advance  of  her  times. 

She  was  built  by  Messrs.  Scott,  of  Greenock,  a 
firm  which  had  not  previously  tried  their  hands  at  a 
tea   clipper.      In   a   great   many   ways   she  was  a 


126  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

radical  departure  from  the  accepted  type  as  shown 
by  the  great  Aberdeen  builders. 

In  the  first  place  she  was  constructed  entirely  of 
iron,  and  secondly,  she  had  more  beams  to  length 
than  any  vessel  launched  within  ten  years  of  her 
appearance,  the  proportion  being  6 "4.  She  was 
also  so  fine  in  the  ends  that  she  was  nicknamed 
"  The  Diving  Bell,"  and  Maxton,  her  celebrated 
skipper,  used  to  say  that  she  dived  in  at  one  side  of 
a  sea  and  out  at  the  other. 

On  her  first  voyage  she  went  out  to  Sydney  in  70 
days,  and  in  1858  she  came  home  from  Shanghai  in 
the  record  time  of  89  days.  However,  in  spite  of 
her  success  and  the  fact  that  she  "delivered  her 
cargo  without  one  spot  of  damage,"  iron  ships  were 
never  popular  in  the  tea  trade,  and  it  was  not  until 
the  seventies  that  any  more  iron  tea  clippers 
were  built. 

Lord  of  the  Isles  had  a  short  life.  On  24th  July, 
1862,  when  bound  to  Hong  Kong  from  Greenock, 
she  caught  fire  in  lat.  12°  13'  N.,  long.  115"  50'  E., 
in  consequence,  it  was  supposed,  of  the  "spontaneous 
combustion  of  some  bales  of  felt  placed  in  juxta- 
position with  bundles  of  railroad  iron  in  the  lower- 
hold."  Captain  Davies,  his  crew  and  passengers,  in 
all  thirty  souls,  managed  to  make  Macao  in  the 
boats,  after  being  twice  boarded  by  pirates. 

The  Northfieet  was  a  very  different  vessel,  one  of 
Duncan  Dunbar's  superb  frigate-built  ships. 


X 
H 

b 
O 

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O 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  127 

She  was  constructed  at  Northfleet  on  the  Thames, 
and  must  have  been  an  extraordinarily  fast  vessel  for 
her  type.  In  the  years  1857  and  1858  she  made 
two  splendid  passages  out  to  Hong  Kong  from 
Woolwich  of  88  days  and  88  days  7  hours  ;  and  the 
Shipping  Gazette  gives  her  times  for  a  passage 
home  in  1857,  which,  if  correct,  constitute  a  wonder- 
ful record.  She  apparently  left  Hong  Kong  on  ^th 
August,  passed  Anjer  7th  September,  and  arrived 
Plymouth  on  29th  October,  82  days  out. 

Northfleefs  end  was  one  of  the  most  tragic  in  the 
annals  of  marine  disasters.  She  was  lying  at  anchor 
off  Dungeness,  outward  bound  in  1873  for  Tasmania 
with  emigrants.  Suddenly  at  10.30  p.m.,  when  most 
of  her  passengers  and  crew  were  asleep  below,  she 
was  cut  down  to  the  water's  edge  by  an  unknown 
steamer,  which  backed  out  and  left  her  to  her  fate. 

As  the  Northfleet  began  to  sink,  there  was  a 
most  terrible  panic  amongst  the  emigrants,  who 
were  mostly  labourers  without  any  knowledge  of 
ships  or  the  sea.  These  men  rushed  the  boats  in 
spite  of  the  revolvers  of  Captain  Knowles  and  his 
officers,  with  the  result  that  293  souls,  including 
many  women,  perished. 

The  ship  took  half  an  hour  to  go  down,  and  but 
for  the  panic  all  hands  might  have  been  saved. 
Captain  Knowles  went  down  at  his  post,  but  his 
wife  was  saved,  and  was  given  a  pension  from  the 
Civil  List  in  recognition  of  her  husband's  bravery. 


128  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

The  steamer  that  did  the  damage  turned  out  to 
be  the  Spanish  steamer  Murillo,  but  at  the  inquiry 
into  his  conduct  her  captain  escaped  punishment  on 
the  assertion  that  he  had  no  idea  that  his  ship  had 
done  any  damage. 

Tea  Passages  of  1854. 

The  chief  international  race  of  1854  was  that 
between  the  Chrysolite  and  Celestial. 

The  former  sailed  from  Foochow  and  the  latter 
from  Whampoa  on  14th  July,  and  Chrysolite  arrived 
at  Deal  108  days  out,  one  day  ahead  of  her  rival. 

The  Challenger  and  Stornoway  left  Shanghai 
together,  were  together  in  Sunda  Strait,  and  the 
former  arrived  at  Gravesend  on  the  4th  December, 
three  days  ahead  of  Stornoway. 

Cairngorm  again  made  the  best  passage  from 
Shanghai,  but  a  new  clipper,  the  Crest  of  the  Wave, 
sailing  on  20th  October,  was  only  a  few  days  behind 
her  in  time. 

"Nightingale's"  Passage  in  185S. 

Nightingale  was  the  last  of  the  American 
clippers  to  distinguish  herself  in  the  English  tea 
trade.  In  1855  she  ran  to  London  from  Shanghai 
in  91  days,  her  best  run  being  336  miles. 

From  this  date  the  Americans,  who  two  or  three 
years  back  were  a  common  sight  in  the  London 
docks,  gradually  fell  out  of  the  English  trade,  and 
America  Square  near  the  Minories,  which  had  been 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  129 

the   headquarters    of    their    skippers,    slowly   grew 
deserted. 

British  Clippers  of  the  late  Fifties. 

At  the  same  time  with  new  captains  and 
water-soaked  hulls  the  careers  of  the  first  British 
clippers  Stornaway  and  Chrysolite  were  about  over. 
After  four  splendid  voyages  in  the  Chrysolite, 
Captain  Enright  left  her  to  take  command  of 
the  great  American-built  Black  Bailer  Lightning, 
whilst  Robertson  had  shifted  from  Stornoway  to 
the  Cairngorm. 

Meanwhile  new  clippers  kept  coming  out,  which 
stayed  in  the  front  of  the  battle  for  a  few  seasons 
and  then  dropped  into  the  ranks  of  the  has-beens. 

Of  such  were  the  Sunderland-built  Crest  of  the 
Wave   and    Spirit   of  the  Age,    the   successors    of 
Sunderland's  frigate-built  veterans  John  Temperly, 
Sir  Harry  Parker,  Dartmouth,  Harkaway,  etc. 

These  two  vessels  like  the  Aberdeen  White  Star 
ships  went  out  to  Australia  before  crossing  to  China 
to  load  tea,  the  passage  out  to  Australia  in  the 
early  days  of  the  gold  discovery  being  as  keenly 
contested  as  the  homeward  one  from  China. 

Regarding  this,  an  interesting  story  is  told  o( 
Spirit  of  the  Age.  It  happened  that  some  ten  or  a 
dozen  prime  British  shellbacks  were  looking  round 
the  West  India  Docks  in  search  of  a  ship,  when 
they  came  upon  a  crack  Yankee  clipper,  displaying 
a  large  notice  board  in  her  rigging,  on  which  the 

K 


130  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

following  words  were  painted:   "This   ship  will  be 
in  Australia  before  any  other." 

Whilst  they  were  gazing  at  this  early  specimen  of 
American  advertising,  the  captain  of  the  Spirit  of 
the  Age  came  up  to  them  and  pointing  at  the 
Yankee's  skysign,  asked  with  a  show  of  passion : 

"  How  can  you  stand  that,  and  you  Britishers?" 

"Well,  it's  a  bit  cheeky  maybe,"  repUed  one  of 
the  Jacks,  "  but  how  can  we  help  it  ?  " 

"That's  what  I've  come  to  you  for,"  returned  the 
captain  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Age,  eagerly,  "you  are 
all  looking  for  berths,  aren't  you  ?  " 

"Yes,"  answered  the  men's  spokesman. 

"Well,"  went  on  the  enterprising  Sunderland 
skipper,  "  I  have  all  my  crew  on  board  already — 
and  a  good  crowd,  too  ;  but  come  with  me  as  a  sort 
of  extra  watch  and  I'll  see  if  we  can't  bustle  the 
bounce  out  of  that  Yankee." 

And  the  men  did  ship  with  him,  with  the  result 
that  the  Spirit  of  the  Age,  after  being  driven  night 
and  day,  made  the  passage  to  Sydney  in  73  days, 
and  beat  the  boastful  American,  who  was  about 
three  times  her  size,  by  a  day  and  a  half. 

The  Yankee's  signboard  was  a  specimen  of  the 
shrewd  business  qualities  shown  by  American 
captains. 

A  Yankee  Captain's  Gutenessi 

There  were  many  other  stories  of  Yankee 
cuteness  in  the  days  of  America's  great  mercantile 


ti 
< 

K 
H 

O 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  131 

rivalry  with  Great  Britain,  of  which,  perhaps,  the 
following  is  the  best. 

One  year  when  freights  at  Whampoa  had  dropped, 
and  only  vessels  with  noted  reputations  for  speed 
were  getting  good  rates,  an  American  ship  arrived 
in  the  port.  This  vessel  was  far  from  being  a  fast 
sailer,  nevertheless  her  captain  went  boldly  up  to 
the  skipper  of  the  fastest  British  tea  clipper  in  port 
and  challenged  him  to  a  race  home  ior  ;^5oo  a  side. 

This  was  at  once  accepted ;  and  the  crafty 
Yankee  then  saw  to  it  that  the  tacts  of  the  wager 
were  made  public.  On  the  shippers  hearing  of  it, 
they  immediately  concluded  that  his  vessel  possessed 
a  turn  of  speed  which  had  been  carefully  kept  secret. 
They  thereupon  engaged  her  at  £2  per  ton  more 
freight  than  she  would  have  been  offered  if  her  real 
sailing  powers  had  been  knov/n. 

The  two  ships  sailed  for  England,  and  the  British 
crack  had  no  difficulty  in  beating  her  opponent  by  a 
fortnight.  But  after  paying  over  his  stake  of  ;^500, 
the  American  captain  was  still  nearly  ;^2000  to  the 
good,  owing  to  the  extra  £2  on  his  freight,  which  but 
for  his  crafty  method  of  gaining  his  ship  a  reputation 
for  speed  would  never  have  been  offered  him. 

"Kate  Carnie"  and  "Fiery  Cross." 

In  1855  the  celebrated  firm  of  Robert  Steele 
&  Co.  built  their  first  tea  clipper,  the  Kate  Carnie, 
a  little  ship  of  under  600  tons.  That  she  proved  a 
success  goes   without    saying,    but    she    is    chiefly 


132  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

remembered  as  being  the  first  of  a  long  list  of  beauti- 
ful ships  launched  from  Steele's  yard  at  Greenock, 
amongst  which  were  such  cracks  as  Serica,  Taeping, 
Ariel,  Sir  Lancelot,  Titania  and  Lahloo. 

In  the  same  year  Chaloner  of  Liverpool  launched 
the  first  Fiery  Cross,  which  in  the  hands  of  a  very 
exceptional  skipper  named  Dallas  made  some  very 
fine  passages.  Unfortunately  Dallas  left  her  in 
1869  to  superintend  the  building  of  a  ship,  after- 
wards celebrated  as  the  Fiery  Cross  No.  2,  and  on 
her  passage  out  that  autumn  under  a  new  captain 
Fiery  Cross  No.  i  was  wrecked. 

"Robin  Hood"  and  "Friar  Tnck." 

The  great  rivals  of  Kate  Carnie  and  Fiery 
Cross  (No.  i)  were  the  Aberdeen-built  Robin  Hood 
and  Friar  Tuck,  vessels  which  were  considered  the 
Sir  Lancelots  of  their  day,  although  it  was  a  short  one. 
The  Friar  Tuck  was  wrecked  on  the  Coast  of 
Cornwall,  when  homeward  bound  in  the  sixties ;  her 
cargo  floated  ashore,  and  the  prime  China  tea  which 
was  retailed  through  the  county  by  the  Cornish 
wreckers  will  long  be  remembered  there. 

Tea  Passages  of  1856. 

The  year  1856  is  notable  as  being  the  first 
year  in  which  the  ^i  per  ton  premium  on  the 
freight  was  offered  for  the  first  tea  ship  to  arrive  in 
the  London  docks. 

The  chief  American  clippers  taking  part  in  the 
racing  were  the  Maury,  Ringleader,  and  Celestial. 


"FIERY  CROSS"  (No.  1). 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  133 

The  Lord  of  the  Isles  was  the  first  ship  away 
from  Foochow.  She  left  on  9th  June,  followed  by 
Maury  on  13th  June. 

The  Maury  was  a  beautiful  clipper  barque  of 
some  600  tons,  built  by  Roosevelt  &  Joyce  for 
A.  A.  Low  &  Brother.  She  made  a  splendid  race 
of  it  with  Lord  of  the  Isles,  the  two  vessels  arriving 
in  the  Downs  on  the  same  day,  15th  October,  Lord 
of  the  Isles  being  128  days  out  and  Maury  124 
days.  Off  Gravesend  Maury  was  leading  by  10 
minutes,  but  coming  up  the  river  Captain  Maxton 
had  the  smartest  tug,  and  thus  managed  to  dock 
first  and  win  the  premium. 

Chrysolite,  under  Captain  Jock  McLeland,  left 
Whampoa  on  the  same  day  that  Lord  of  the  Isles 
left  Foochow,  but  she  did  not  have  a  fortunate 
passage.  In  the  China  Sea  she  carried  away  all 
three  topmasts.  Upon  which  the  crew  refused 
duty,  and  brought  a  beef  bone  aft  to  show  the 
skipper  that  before  clearing  away  the  wreck  they 
required  better  grub  or  more  of  it.  Not  gaining  any 
concession  from  the  hardened  old  man,  one  of  the 
men  threw  the  beef  bone  at  him,  whereupon  Captain 
Jock  whipped  out  a  derringer  and  winged  the  man, 
who  dropped  to  the  deck  yelling  blue  murder.  In 
telling  the  yarn  afterwards  the  mate  remarked  that 
he  had  never  seen  a  deck  so  quickly  cleared.  Jt 
appeared  that  Captain  McLeland  never  came  on  deck 
without  his  derringer.     With  this  kind  of  friction 


134 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 


going  on  between  captain  and  crew  it  is  not  surpris- 
ing that  Chrysolite  took  144  days  to  get  home. 

The  best  passage  from  Foochow  was  made  by 
Fiery  Cross,  which,  leaving  on  4th  September,  was 
under  the  100  days  to  London. 

Spirit  of  the  Age  did  the  best  passage  from 
Whampoa.  Leaving  20th  August,  she  arrived  in 
the  Downs  on  28th  November,  exactly  100  days 
out.  Ringleader  came  next  with  109  days,  leaving 
14th  July,  and  reaching  London  on  31st  October. 

Of  the  Shanghai  ships,  the  Challenger  left  on  8th 
September  and  came  home  in  129  days.  This  was 
not  one  of  her  best,  but  all  the  passages  from 
Shanghai  were  long  ones  that  year.  Challenger  s 
average  for  eight  passages  from  Shanghai  was  no 
days,  the  shortest  run  being  105.  All  these  were 
made  under  Captain  Killick,  who  eventually  left 
her  and  founded  the  firm  of  Killick  &  Martin,  and 
owned  the  well-known  clippers  Kaisow,  Omba,  Wylo, 
Osaka,  and  Lot  hair. 

Tea  Passages  of  1857. 


Ship. 

Port  from. 

Date 
Sailed. 

Arrived. 

Date 
Arrived. 

Days  Out. 

Crest  of  the  Wave 

Foochow 

May  25 

London 

Sept.  28 

126 

Maury      .     .     . 

»» 

July    3 

,, 

Oct.    17 

106 

Cairngorni     .     . 

Hong  Kong 

July    10 

Deal 

Oct.   30 

112 

Northfleet      .     . 

»» 

Aug.    8 

Plyntouth 

Oct.   29 

82 

Challenger     .     . 

Shanghai 

»»       5 

London 

Dec.     I 

118 

Robin  Hood  .     . 

Foochow 

,, 

Nov.  30 

116 

Spirit  of  the  Age 

»» 

„      8 

Liverpool 

Dec.     I 

.,"5    . 

Fiery  Cross   .     . 

» 

Anjer  \ 
Aug.  29/ 

Oflf  Dartmouth 

Nov.  II 

ffr.  Anjer 
I     74 

Celestial    .     .     . 

Shanghai 

,.     23 

London 

Jan.    I I 

141 

Lord  of  the  Isles 

i» 

„     25 

II 

Jan.    13 

141 

THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 


135 


I  have  been  unable  to  find  Fiery  Cross's  sailing 
date,  but  she  probably  left  Foochow  about  the 
beginning  of  August,  and  thus  came  home  in  less 
than  no  days,  a  very  fine  performance. 

I  have  already  mentioned  Northfleet s  record.  It 
is  as  given  in  the  Shipping  Gazette,  which  records 
her  passing  Anjer  on  7th  September,  so  that  would 
only  give  her  52  days  from  Sunda  Strait  home, 
which  is  manifestly  impossible,  and  yet  I  can  find  no 
evidence  of  it  being  a  misprint. 

Celestial  and  Lord  of  the  Isles  must  have  sailed  a 
close  race,  but  they  evidently  had  poor  winds  on  the 
China  Coast,  as  I  find  that  Lord  of  the  Isles  was  45 
days  to  Anjer,  which  she  passed  on  9th  October. 


Tea  Passages  of  1858. 


Ship. 

Port  from. 

Date 
Sailed. 

Passed 
Anjer. 

Arrived. 

Date 
Arrived. 

Days 
Out. 

Fiery  Cross     .     . 

Foochow 

June  27 

London 

Oct.    20 

"S 

Chrysolite  .     . 

j» 

July     8 

— 

>» 

Nov.  26 

HI 

Northfleet-. 

Hong  Kong 

July   22 

Aug.  24 

Plymouth 

Nov.  25 

126 

Kate  Carnie 

Foochow 

Aug.    2 

— 

London 

Dec.     2 

122 

Stomoway.     . 

If 

Sept.    6 

— 

)» 

Jan.    2.x 

137 

Robin  Hoed    . 

,, 

Sept.    8 

Oct.     7 

»» 

Dec.  17 

100 

Challenger 

Shanghai 

Sept.  18 

Oct.   22 

}  " 

Jan.    1 1 

115 

Catmgortn 

Whampoa 

Nov.    6 

BancaSt. 
Nov.  18 

Feb.     6 

92 

Lammermuir 

,1 

Nov.    8 

II 

Feb.     9 

93 

Lord  of  the  Isks  . 

Shanghai 

Nov.  29 



Dover 

Feb.  26 

89 

Fiery  Cross  took  the  premium  for  the  first  ship 
in,  but  this  year  is  remarkable  for  the  wonderful 
times  of  the  late  starters,  which,  with  an  N.E. 
monsoon  and  good  winds  in  the  Atlantic,  had  rather 
an  advantage  over  the  first  ships. 


136  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

The  abstract  of  Lord  of  the  Isles  89-day  run  was 
as  follows  : — 

Left  Shanghai  November  29 

Rounded  the  Cape  -  January  14 

Passed  St.  Helena  January  23 

Crossed  the  line  -        February  2  in  long.  23°  40'  W. 

Passed  the  Lizard  February  25 

Arrived  off  Dover  February  26 

She  carried  1030  tons  of  tea,  and  it  was  given  out 
that  she  had  averaged  320  knots  for  five  conse- 
cutive days  crossing  the  trades  in  the  Indian  Ocean, 

Race  between  "Cairngorm"  and  " Lammermuir." 

Owing  to  the  war  with  China  the  Canton 
River  was  closed  to  European  commerce  in  1857  and 
1858  ;  but  the  operations  of  the  British  fleet  under 
Admiral  Sir  Michael  Seymour  opened  Whampoa  to 
trade  in  the  autumn  of  1858,  upon  which  five  ships 
rushed  up  to  load  tea  at  that  port. 

These  were  the  Cairngorm,  Lantmermuir,  Chief- 
tain, Warrior  Queen,  and  Morning  Star.  Of  these 
the  Cairngorm  was  the  only  out-and-out  clipper. 
Lammermuir,  which  had  been  built  by  Pile  of 
Sunderland  for  John  Willis  in  1856,  was  not  a 
sharp-ended  ship,  but  she  was  a  good  all  round 
sailer,  and  particularly  fast  in  light  winds.  Chieftain 
was  a  Jersey  built  ship,  and  considered  fast,  but 
neither  the  Warrior  Queen  nor  Morning  Star  had 
any  reputation  for  speed. 

However,  as  it  was  the  first  tea  that  had  been 
loaded  in  the  Canton  River  for  some  time,  the 
merchants  were  very  eager  to  get  it  on  the  home 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  137 

market,  and  so  promised  a  large  bonus  to  the 
captain  and  officers  of  the  first  ship  to  arrive  in 
London.  It  was  considered  loo  to  i  on  the 
Cairngorm,  which  got  away  2  days  before  the 
Lammermuir  and  the  other  ships. 

Lantmermuir  was  commanded  by  Captain  Andrew 
Shewan,  senior,  who  afterwards  had  the  Norman 
Court,  whilst  Captain  Ryrie,  who  afterwards  had 
the  Flying  Spur,  had  succeeded  Robertson  at  the 
helm  of  Cairngorm.. 

With  light  weather  in  the  China  Sea  Cairngorm, 
like  many  another  very  sharp  ship,  was  not  at  her 
best — the  Aberdeen  clippers  excelled  chiefly  in 
strong,  whole-sail  breezes — and  the  Lammermuir 
caught  her  in  the  Java  Sea  when  eight  days  ouf 
The  wind  was  very  light  and  just  suited  the  Sunder- 
land ship,  which  soon  forged  up  alongside  her  famous 
rival,  upon  which  Captain  Shewan  lowered  a  boat 
and  went  on  board  the  Cairngorm,  to  have  a  chat. 
And  whilst  his  captain  was  aboard  Lammermuif's 
antagonist,  the  mate,  a  man  named  Moore,  who 
afterwards  held  command  of  several  of  Willis' 
clippers  including  the  Cuiiy  Sark,  tacked  the 
Lammermuir  across  the  other's  bows  and  so  sailed 
round  her,  much  to  Captain  Ryrie's  disgust,  which 
was  expressed  in  some  very  forcible  language. 

The  two  vessels  did  not  part  until  they  felt  the 
S.E.  trade  outside  Java  Head,  but  then  Cairngorm 
fan^  away  from  Lammermuir  in  the  fresh  breeze. 


138  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Nevertheless  the  latter  docked  only  three  days  behind 
the  Aberdeen  crack  after  a  splendid  passage. 
Lammermuir's  performance  was  considered  so  meri- 
torious that  the  brokers  presented  the  same  bonus 
to  her  captain  and  officers  as  that  which  they  had 
given  to  Cairngorm  for  being  the  first  arrival. 

Of  the  other  three  ships,  the  Chieftain  was  only 
two  or  three  days  behind  Lammermuir,  but  the 
Warrior  Queen  and  Morning  Star  were  nowhere. 

Lammermuir,  the  heroine  of  this  race,  eventually 
left  her  bones  on  the  Amherst  Reef,  Macclesfield 
Channel,  Caspar  Straits,  and  her  mainmast  was  for 
many  years  a  good  guiding  mark. 

"Ellen  Rodger"  and  "Ziba." 

In  1858  two  very  fast  little  clippers  were 
built,  the  Ellen  Rodger  from  Steele's  yard  and  the 
barque  Ziba  from  Hall's.  Their  day,  however,  was 
only  a  short  one,  as  they  were  soon  outclassed  by 
the  improved  clippers  which  appeared  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sixties. 

"  GhaaMsze." 

Before  leaving  the  fifties  for  the  sixties  and 
the  great  days  of  the  tea  races,  I  will  mention  one  . 
more  of  the  earlier  Aberdeen  clippers,  the  Chaa-sze, 
which  followed  Ziba  off  the  stocks,  and  was  the  first 
tea  ship  designed  by  Rennie.  This  little  ship  was 
of  more  than  usual  interest.  Measuring  556  tons, 
and  built  by  Hall,  she  was  laid  down  for  a  steam 
whaler,  and  made  as  strong  as  it  was  possible,  being 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  139 

of  teak  throughout.  Inside  her  teak  trames,  which 
were  4  to  6  feet  apart,  she  was  diagonally  planked. 
This  with  3 -inch  outside  planking  bound  her  up 
tightly  with  no  less  than  9  inches  of  teak.  Indeed, 
she  was  so  tightly  bound  that,  on  being  put  into  the 
tea  trade,  she  had  several  of  her  lower  deck  beams 
made  to  unship  in  order  to  give  her  more  play. 
This  idea  was  taken  perhaps  from  the  trick  of  the 
old  slavers,  which,  when  hard  pressed  by  a  cruiser, 
would  saw  through  their  deck  beams  in  order  to 
improve  their  sailing,  and,  indeed,  often  attributed 
their  escapes  to  this  cause. 

The  Chaa-sze  made  some  very  good  passages 
from  Whampoa  in  the  early  sixties. 

On  one  occasion  she  was  in  company,  off 
Mauritius,  with  a  Sunderland  clipper  barque  named 
the  Chanticleer,  a  predecessor  of  Maitland  and 
Undine.  The  two  ships  had  been  in  company  for 
four  days  with  light  variable  winds,  both  being  bound 
to  China.  At  last  a  steady  breeze  arrived,  and 
Chaa-sze  at  once  began  to  show  her  heels  and  drop 
the  other.  Upon  which  the  Geordie  skipper  of  the 
Chanticleer  remarked  resignedly  to  his  mate : 
"There  she  goes.  They  have  unscrewed  the 
beams,  and  we  shan't  see  her  again." 

And  no  more  they  did. 


PART  II 

"The   Zenith  of  the    Tea   Clipper  Racing" 
i8sg  to  rSyz. 

The  Builders  and  Designers  of  the  Famous 
Tea  Clippers. 

■ITH  the  advent  of  the  sixties  the  British 

tea   clippers   came    to    their    perfection ; 

their   star  rose  to  its  zenith,   and   for   a 

year  or  two  after  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  still 

shone  brightly — then  came  steam  and  the  eclipse. 

With  the  retreat  of  the  Americans,  it  was  left  for 
the  British  designers  and  builders  to  fight  out  the 
battle  for  supremacy  amongst  themselves.  And  the 
fight  between  Aberdeen  and  the  Clyde  grew  to  be 
just  as  keen  as  that  between  Great  Britain  and 
America. 

The  Clyde  possessed  two  great  builders  in  Steele 
and  Connel,  who,  until  the  launch  of  the  famous 
Thermopylae,  may  be  said  to  have  thrust  the  pro- 
ductions of  Hall  and  Hood  into  the  shade.  And  of 
these  two,  the  firm  of  Steele  held  the  palm.  Built 
by  Robert  Steele  and  designed  by  his  brother 
William  Steele,  such  vessels  as  Taeping,  Serica, 
Ariel,  Sir  Lancelot,  Titania,  and  Lahloo,  carried  all 

before  them  in  the  tea  races,  besides  being  the  most 

141 


142  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

beautiful    and    yacht-like    merchantmen    that    ever 
sailed  the  seas. 

Their  most  notable  rivals  from  Connel's  yard 
were  Taitsing,  Spindrift,  and  Windhover,  but  Connel 
must  also  receive  credit  for  Skinner's  Castles  which 
were  very  smart  little  ships,  but,  being  much  smaller 
than  the  cracks,  did  not  race  in  the  first  flight  with 
the  new  teas. 

Hall's  best  known  ships  of  the  same  date  were 
Flying  Spur,  Black  Prince,  and  Yangtze,  whilst  Hood 
built  Jerusalem,  Thyatira,  and  Thermopylae  for 
Thompson's  Aberdeen  White  Star  Line.  Of  these 
three  the  Thermopylae  was  the  only  vessel  which 
regularly  loaded  the  first  teas  of  the  season. 

A  few  other  builders  entered  the  arena  from  time 
to  time.  The  well-known  Pile  of  Sunderland  failed 
to  hold  his  own.  His  Maitland,  of  which  so  much 
was  expected,  was  a  failure,  and  Undine,  though  she 
made  a  fair  average  of  passages,  was  not  quite  equal 
to  the  Steele  cracks.  Green  of  Blackwall  built 
Highflyer  and  put  her  into  the  China  trade  for  a 
couple  of  voyages,  but  even  under  Anthony  Enright 
she  did  not  prove  fast  enough.  Chaloner  of  Liver- 
pool produced  one  masterpiece,  the  famous  Fiery 
Cross  ;  Laurie  of  Glasgow  built  Leander;  Stephen  of 
Glasgow  launched  some  half-dozen  ships  for  the 
trade,  including  Forward  Ho  ;  whilst  the  wonderful 
Cutty  Sark  was  built  by  Scott  &  Linton  of 
Dumbarton. 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  143 

As  a  rule  these  famous  clippers  were  designed 
in  the  drawing  lofts  of  their  builders ;  in  fact,  there 
were  only  two  outside  designers  of  any  note, 
Bernard  Waymouth,  Secretary  of  Lloyd's  Register, 
and  Rennie. 

Waymouth  was  responsible  for  the  lines  of  the 
Leander  and  Thermopylae,  whilst  Rennie  designed 
Fiery  Cross,  Black  Prince,  Norman  Court,  and 
John  R.    Worcester. 

The  Beauty  of  Steele's  Creations. 

Though  there  was  no  such  thing  as  an  ugly 
tea  clipper,  Steele  was,  without  a  doubt,  the  designer 
of  the  most  beautiful  little  ships  that  ever  floated. 
Like  his  modern  confrere,  Fife,  he  could  not  produce 
an  ugly  boat.      The  lines  of  his  vessels  never  failed 
to    please   the   eye ;    their    sweetness    and    beauty 
satisfied    that    artistic    sense    in'  a    sailor,    which, 
though  always  present,  can  hardy  be  described  in 
words.      Suffice   it   to   say   that   there   was   not   a 
curve    or    line    or    angle    in   a   boat    such   as   the 
Ariel  or   Sir  Lancelot,   which  did   not  carry  out 
the  idea  of  perfect  proportion  and  balance.      And 
it   is  just   this   balance   in   design   which   gives    a 
ship  merit  in  the  eyes  of  sailors.     Steele's  grace- 
fully curving  cutwaters  and  neatly  rounded  sterns 
fitted  each  other  to  perfection.     His  vessels  never 
gave  one  the  impression,  as  some  boats  do,  that 
the  bows  of  a  ship  had  been  joined  on  to  the  stern 
of  a  scow  and  vice  versa.     And  it  was  this  absolute 


144  THE    CHINA    CUPPERS 

sweetness  to  the  eye  which  gave  the  Steele  clippers 
a  look  of  delicate,  almost  fragile,  beauty,  and  distin- 
guished them  from  their  rivals.  The  Clyde  clippers, 
also,  were  noted  for  a  yacht-like  finish  :  all  their 
woodwork  on  deck  or  "below  was  of  the  finest  teak 
or  mahogany,  so  beautifully  fashioned  as  to  bear 
comparison  with  the  work  of  a  first-class  cabinet- 
maker, whilst  bulwark  rails,  stanchions,  skylights, 
capstans,  and  binnacles  shone  with  more  brass-work 
than  is  ever  found  in  a  modern  yacht. 

Pride  of  the  Clyde  Shipwrights. 

The  building  of  tea  clippers  on  the  Clyde 
laid  the  foundations  of  that  river's  supremacy  in  ship 
construction.  Many  are  the  stories  related  of  the 
pride  of  Greenock  and  Glasgow  shipwrights  at  this 
period.  How  they  had  their  foot-rule  pockets  made 
shallow  on  purpose  to  show  this  emblem  of  their 
trade.  How  they  would  swagger  into  the  barbers' 
shops  and  demand  to  be  shaved  before  the  ordinary 
customer  because  they  were  shipwrights. 

They  even  took  up  oarsmanship,  and  a  crew  of 
Clyde  shipwrights,  calling  themselves  the  "Cartsdyke 
Worthies,"  actually  succeeded  in  winning  the  four- 
oared  Championship  of  Britain  at  the  Thames 
National  Regatta  in  1871. 

Craze  for  Neatness  aloft  in  Aberdeen  Ships. 

The  Aberdeen  ships,  though  not  so  expen- 
sively finished  as  those  of  the  Clyde  with  regard  to 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  145 

deck  fittings,  were  celebrated  for  their  smart  look 
aloft.  Indeed  they  carried  this  smartness  aloft  to 
excess,  with  the  result  that,  owing  to  the  smallness 
of  their  blocks,  they  were  heavy  workers  ;  and  it  was 
not  until  freights  had  begun  to  fall  that  large  blocks 
and  small  ropes  replaced  small  blocks  and  large 
ropes.  The  Black  Prince,  a  noted  ship  for  small 
blocks,  required  two  men  to  stick  out  her  fore-sheet, 
and  kept  all  her  heavy  braces  and  sheets  rove 
through  the  light  weather  of  the  China  Seas.  And 
Captain  Shewan,  who  was  an  officer  on  both  ships, 
tells  me  that  the  Norman  Court,  though  lOO  tons 
bigger,  handled  more  easily  with  14  A.B.'s  than  the 
Black  Prince  with  22.  The  Aberdeen  ships,  though 
perhaps  the  worst  offenders  with  regard  to  small 
blocks  and  heavy  ropes,  were  not  the  only  ones. 
The  fault  of  mistaking  weight  for  strength  seems  to 
be  a  characteristic  of  the  British  nation.  As  a  proof 
of  this,  so  heavy  was  the  usual  stunsail  gear  of 
British  ships  that  it  was  a  common  sight  to  see  a 
Frenchman  or  Italian  set  a  whole  suit  of  stunsails, 
whilst  a  Britisher  was  setting  a  fore-topmast  stunsail. 

Sail  Plans  of  the  Crack  Clippers. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  sixties  most  of  the 
clippers  had  Cunningham's  patent  fitted  to  their 
single  topsails,  and  it  was  not  until  1865  that  a 
double-topsail  was  seen  in  a  tea  ship  But  in  the 
autumn  of  that  year  Ariel  came  out  with  double- 
topsail  yards  on  all  three  masts,  followed  a  month 


146  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

later  by  Sir  Lancelot  with  double  on  the  fore  and 
main,    but  retaining  the  single  yard  on  the  mizen. 

The  double  topsail  had  one  disadvantage,  it  was 
not  so  effective  in  light  winds  as  the  single  topsail 
owing  to  the  splitting  up  of  the  sail.  As  a  proof  of 
this  fact,  Captain  Keay  wrote  to  me,  apropos  of  his 
celebrated  race  up  channel  with  Taeping  in  1866, 
that  when  the  wind  slackened  Taeping  had  slightly 
the  better  of  it,  whereas,  as  soon  as  it  freshened, 
Ariel  went  ahead ;  and  he  accounted  for  this 
difference  in  their  sailing  by  the  fact  that  Taeping s 
single  topsails  were  more  effective  in  light  weather 
than  his  double  ones.  Double  topsails  also  necessi- 
tated the  slacking  up  of  the  lee  topmast  rigging 
when  by  the  wind  in  order  to  allow  the  lower  yard 
to  brace  up  well.  When  racing  it  was  customary  on 
the  tea  clippers  to  lace  the  foot  of  the  upper  topsails 
to  the  lower  topsail  yards.  The  vessels  had  their  full 
complement  of  stunsails(or  studding  sails  to  spell  them 
correctly)  from  royal  stunsails  down  to  save-alls  and 
watersails  which  were  set  under  the  lower  stunsails. 

In  most  of  the  tea  clippers  the  topgallant  stunsails 
were  set  from  the  deck.  In  the  favourable  trades, 
such  as  when  running  from  Anjer  to  Mauritius  or 
rolling  down  to  St.  Helena,  a  staysail  was  laced  on 
as  a  wing  outside  the  lower  stunsail.  Captain 
Keay  of  Ariel  even  went  so  far  as  to  lace  two 
staysails  together,  thus  making  a  square  sail  to 
go   outside  the  lower  stunsail.      A  small   set   and 


THE    CHINA   CUPPERS  147 

a  large  set  of  stunsails  were  carried  on  these  well- 
found  clippers. 

Passarees  were  boomed  outboard  some  30  feet 
at  the  fore,  and  when  before  the  wind  the  foresail- 
was  set  as  flat  as  possible  with  its  clews  hauled  well 
out  on  the  passaree  booms,  whilst  the  clews  of  the 
mainsail  were  carried  aft. 

Staysails  were  bent  on  every  stay,  including  that 
from  the  main  sky-sail  masthead.  It  was  the 
universal  practice  amongst  the  later  tea  clippers  to 
haul  down  their  staysails  when  close-hauled  or 
turning  to  windward.  The  epoch-making  Falcon 
started  this  fashion,  and  claimed  that  it  enabled  her 
to  lay  half-a-point  nearer  the  wind  than  her  rivals. 

Some  of  the  earlier  clippers,  owing  to  their  sharp 
bows,  had  a  lot  of  rake  in  their  spars,  and  often 
carried  a  great  deal  of  weather  helm.  To  overcome 
this  a  jib-o-jib  or  jib-topsail  was  set  well  up  on  the 
fore-royal  or  fore-topgallant  stay,  and  a  sail  called  a 
Jamie  Green  made  of  No,  4  canvas,  and  cut  as  a 
main-topgallant  stunsail  with  three  feet  more  hoist, 
was  set  along  the  bowsprit  and  jibboom  under  the 
headsails.  This,  a  very  favourite  sail  on  the  tea 
clippers,  was  filled  mostly  from  the  fool-wind  of  the 
jib,  but  pulled  hard,  every  inch  telling  both  in  light 
and  moderate  winds. 

It  was  always  set  on  a  wind,  being  carried  even 
when  making  short  tacks  by  the  smart  ships,  and  the 
foe's 'le-head  men  attended  to  it  when  going  about. 


148  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

It  will  perhaps  interest  modern  sailors  to  hear  how 
this  sail  was  set.  The  sail  was  run  out  and  in  along 
rope  travellers  rove  between  the  end  of  the  jibboom 
and  the  cat-heads.  The  halliards  went  to  the 
jibboom  end,  the  tack  to  the  lower  end  of  the 
martingale,  and  the  inner  or  sheet  clew  of  the  sail 
was  flattened  or  eased  off  by  means  of  a  pendant 
from  the  fore-rigging  and  a  whip  to  the  foc's'le-head. 

A  ring-tail  was,  of  course,  set  outside  the  spanker 
with  a  watersail  under  it  or  else  a  save-all  under  the 
spanker.  A  bonnet,  also,  was  generally  laced  under 
the  foresail.  The  crossjack  of  a  tea  clipper  was 
seldom  set  on  a  wind  as  it  was  difficult  to  make  it 
stand,  overlapped  as  it  was  by  the  mainsail  and 
spanker. 

One  of  the  largest  sails  set  when  racing  was  the 
main  topmast  staysail,  which  stretched  the  whole 
length  of  the  stay.  Most  of  the  earlier  clippers 
carried  a  huge  jib,  but  in  the  later  ships  this  very 
unhandy  sail,  which  caused  the  death  of  many  a  man 
in  the  first  Aberdeen  flyers,  was  split  into  the 
modern  style  inner  and  outer  jib. 

The  Steele  clippers  were  noted  for  their  fairy-like 
main-skysails,  but  the  Aberdeen  boats  and  most  of 
the  others  carried  nothing  above  their  royals,  and 
relied  more  on  spread  than  hoist.  A  few  ships,, 
however,  sent  up  temporary  skysail  yards  in  favour- 
able weather,  and  the  Maitland  alone  set  moonsails. 
above  standing  skysail-yards. 


MIDSHIP  SECTION  OF  "SIR  LANCELOT." 


MODEL  OF   "TITANIA." 


[To  face  Page  J 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  149 

These  moonsails  of  hers  were,  however,  a  standing 
joke  amongst  the  tea  fleet,  and  were  compared  to 
pocket-handkerchiefs. 

Deck  Plans. 

The  deck  plans  were  generally  alike — a  short 
topgallant  foc's'le,  termed  a  monkey  foc's'le  ;  a  small 
midship-house ;  the  boats  carried  on  low  skids  be- 
tween the  main  and  mizen  masts  just  forward  of 
the  mizen  rigging  ;  and  a  raised  quarter-deck,  flush 
with  the  main  rail  and  extending  a  few  feet  forward 
of  the  mizen-mast. 

DeadHrise  and  Ballasting. 

The  midship  section  of  the  Sir  Lancelot 
shows  the  amount  of  dead-rise  usual  in  Steele's  pro- 
ductions. Steele,  like  the  American,  Donald  Mackay, 
in  his  later  ships,  believed  in  a  full  midship  section 
and  fine  ends,  but  some  clipper  ship  designers  cut 
their  ships  away  almost  like  yachts.  All  the  tea 
clippers  required  a  deal  of  ballast,  and  besides  some 
loo  tons  of  permanent  iron  kentledge  stowed  under 
the  skin  in  the  limbers,  they  took  in  over  200  tons 
of  washed  shingle  before  loading  tea. 

It  required  very  little  to  alter  the  trim  an  inch  or 
two.  Ariel,  in  the  1866  race,  used  a  shifting  box, 
12  feet  by  2)\  by  2,  made  of  3-inch  deals,  and  filled 
with  spare  kedges,  anchor  stocks,  and  coal,  to  trim 
to  windward.  And  the  moving  of  salt  provisions 
from  the  fore  peak,  or  putting  the  cables  aft  in  the 


ISO  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

sail  room,  was  quite  enough  to  put  the  stern  down 
an  inch  or  two. 

When  levelling  the  ballast  before  loading  tea  it 
was  usual  to  trim  about  3  feet  by  the  stern,  so  that 
when  loaded  the  ship  often  drew  4  or  5  inches  more 
aft  than  forward. 

To  get  her  correct  trim  was  as  important  in  these 
sensitive  tea  clippers  as  it  is  in  a  modern  yacht,  and 
half  inch  one  way  or  the  other  often  made  all  the 
difference  in  a  ship's  sailing. 

Sheer. 

Like    the    modern    racing    yacht,    the    tea 

clippers  had  just  the  right  proportion  of  sheer,  and 
in  this  respect  came  half  way  between  the  Black- 
wall  frigates,  which  had  absolutely  none,  and  the 
Yankee  clippers,  which  in  many  cases  carried  sheer 
to  excess. 

Rigidity  of  Build. 

When  the  rivalry  in  the  tea  trade  between 
America  and  the  United  Kingdom  was  at  its  height 
the  British  vessels  were  noted  for  the  good  condition 
in  which  they  delivered  their  cargoes,  whereas  in 
American  ships  the  tea  was  often  injured  owing  to 
the  lightness  of  their  construction  and  the  soft  woods 
employed,  which  allowed  the  water  to  drain  into  the 
hull  when  under  the  strain  of  a  heavy  press  of  sail. 
The  British  composite-built  clippers  of  the  sixties 
were,  however,  so  beautifully  built  as  to  be  as  tight 
as  a  bottle.      Such  ships  as  the  Ariel  required  a 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  151 

lo  minute's  spell  at  the  pumps  every  24  hours  of 
the  first  week  outward  bound,  after  which  they  had 
taken  up,  were  perfectly  tight,  and  required  no  more 
pumping  for  the  voyage. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  tea  races,  however,  a 
theory  grew  up  in  clipper  ship  circles  that  the  old 
rigidity  of  build  was  a  mistake,  that  a  vessel  sailed 
better  if  allowed  some  play  in  hull  as  well  as  gear ; 
and  this  theory,  with  which  many  a  racing  yachts- 
man will  agree,  was  carried  out  in  some  of  the 
later  vessels.  For  instance,  it  is  reported  that 
Thermopylaes  deck  seams  would  open  up  when 
heavily  pressed. 

It  is  quite  possible,  however,  to  get  strength 
without  rigidity,  and  this  is  proved  by  the  length  of 
life  of  some  of  the  hardest  driven.  The  Cutty  Sark 
is  still  afloat,  voyaging  regularly  between  Lisbon, 
Rio,  and  New  Orleans,  and  both  Thermopylae  and 
Titania  survived  the  twentieth  century. 

Speed  of  Tea  Clippers  Compared  with  the  Black 
Bailers,  Yankee  Clippers,  and  Later  Iron 
Clippers. 

In  comparing  the  speed  of  different  vessels 
it  is  necessary  to  take  a  number  of  factors  into 
account,  such  as  trim,  quality  of  cargo,  condition  of 
ship's  bottom,  character  of  captain,  and  strength  of 
crew,  before  being  able  to  come  to  a  fair  judgment. 
In  the  tea  clippers  and  Australian  Black  Bailers 
all    these    factors    were    excellent.       The    Yankee 


152  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

clippers  usually  had  to  contend  with  weak  or 
mutinous  crews,  whilst  the  iron  clippers  often  had  to 
put  up  with  weak  crews  and  foul  bottoms.  But 
allowance,  especially  in  heavy  weather,  must  also  be 
made  for  tonnage,  and  the  little  tea  clippers  were 
little  more  than  half  the  size  of  the  others. 

Thus  it  would  not  be  reasonable  to  expect  them 
to  rival  such  vessels  as  the  Black  Bailer's  Lightning 
and  James  Baines  or  the  Yankee  clippers  Flying 
Cloud  and  Sovereign  of  the  Seas  when  running  the 
easting  down.  The  Black  Bailer,  owing  to  her 
size  and  height  out  of  the  water  (emigrants  were  a 
light,  easy  cargo,  giving  a  high  freeboard)  could  run 
before  the  westerlies  with  dry  decks  and  skysails  set, 
when  a  tea  clipper,  with  her  narrow  beam  and  low 
freeboard,  would  only  be  burying  herself  if  pressed 
or  half-becalmed  under  the  lee  of  each  roller  if 
snugged  down  to  the  lower  canvas. 

But  in  the  light  weather  of  the  tropics  and  more 
especially  in  the  baffling  airs  of  the  doldrums,  the 
little  tea  clippers  could  sail  2  feet  to  a  Black  Bailer's 
one.  I  have  takerr  out  the  times  between  the  two 
tropics  from  the  logs  of  various  ships  and  find  that 
the  tea  clippers  were  usually  five  or  six  days  faster 
than  either  the  Black  Bailers,  Yankee  clippers  or  the 
iron  clippers. 

On  20th  September,  1855,  the  Black  Bailer 
Lightning  crossed  the  tropic  of  Cancer  and  was  25 
days  to  Capricorn,  whilst  Ariel  crossed  Cancer  on 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  153 

22nd  September,  1865,  and  only  took  18  days 
between  the  tropics.  I  have  chosen  this  instance,  as 
they  crossed  the  tropics  at  the  same  season  of  the 
year  and  experienced  pretty  much  the  same  weather. 

Arie^s  best  time  between  the  tropics  was  in 
November,  1866,  13  days;  Thermopylae's  12  days 
in  November,  1866;  Lightning's  16  days  in  February, 
1855  ;  and  Patriarch's  {to  give  an  example  of  an  iron 
clipper)  15  days  in  June,  1883.  I  have  picked  these 
four  ships  as  they  were  probably  as  fast  as,  if  not 
faster  than,  any  others  of  their  type. 

In  doldrum  weather  such  vessels  as  Ariel, 
Thermopylae,  Sir  Lancelot  and  Titania  possessed 
the  power  of  ghosting  along  4  or  5  knots  when  there 
was  scarce  a  ripple  on  the  water  and  when  a  Black 
Bailer  or  Californian  flyer  would  barely  have  had 
steerage  way. 

Weatherliness  of  the  Tea  Clippers. 

At  the  same  time  they  went  to  windward  in 
a  wonderful  manner.  A  good  instance  of  this  was 
shown  during  Therm^ylae's  first  voyage,  when 
leaving  Melbourne  for  Newcastle,  N.S.W. 

**  Thermopylae"  beating  to  Windward. 

The  tug  towed  her  2  miles  below  the  Gelli- 
brand  Lightship ;  she  then  cast  off,  sail  was  set  and 
she  stood  over  towards  the  St.  Kilda  Bank ;  stayed 
and  on  the  port  tack  headed  for  Point  Cook ;  went 
round  again  and  then  fetched  the  head  of  the  South 


154  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Channel.  The  pilot,  who  took  her  down,  was 
amazed  ;  and  told  the  tug  master  that  he  had  taken 
many  ships  to  sea  under  similar  conditions,  but  the 
weatherly  qualities  of  the  Thermopylae  eclipsed  any- 
thing he  had  ever  seen.  No  vessel,  he  declared, 
had  ever  made  the  South  Channel  in  three  tacks 
before  with  the  wind  from  the  same  quarter. 

WeatherUness  of  "Sir  Lancelot"  and  "ArieL" 

The  sister  ships  Sir  Lancelot  and  Ariel 
were  specially  noted  for  the  way  in  which  they  could 
beat  dead  to  windward  in  a  strong  breeze. 

The  following  entries  in  Captain  Keay's  abstracts 
testify  to  Ariel's  powers  : — 

— .   "  Ship  goes  1 2  knots  on  a  bowline  quite  easy." 

— .  "  Ship  going  close-hauled  8  or  lo  knots, 
pitching  much,  lee  side  of  deck  constantly  flooded, 
water  coming  over  bow  and  lee  quarter  close  aft. 
Distance  in  24  hours  222  miles  against  such  a  sea." 

— .  "  Fresh  gales,  severe  squalls,  very  high 
turbulent  sea,  she  behaves  splendidly,  going  11 
knots,  against  such  a  sea.  Distance  by  observation 
from  9  p.m.  to  noon  174  miles." 

I  have  no  instances  of  the  tea  clippers  meeting 
larger  clippers  in  fresh  winds,  but  in  light  weather 
the  Flying  Spur  once  passed  the  Lightning  very 
easily  ;  she  likewise  went  by  Sobraon  and  Tantallon 
Castle.  Ariel  also  overhauled  the  latter  vessel  with 
great  ease,  the  wind  being  light  and  ahead  and 
stunsails  in. 


THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS  155 

Best  Day's  Run  of  a  British  Tea  Clipper. 

The  best  day's  work  of  the  tea  clippers  was 
generally  done  in  smooth  water  with  a  strong  whole- 
sail  wind  about  2  points  or  so  abaft  the  beam.  The 
Cutty  Sark  holds  the  record  with  363  knots,  done 
more  than  once.  On  one  occasion  she  did  362  and 
363  knots  on  two  consecutive  days.  On  another 
she  made  182  knots  in  12  hours. 

The  Thermopylae's  best  was  358  knots,  made 
when  running  her  easting  down  in  44°  S.,  68°  E. 

The  Ariel's  best  was  340  and  Sir  Lancelot's  336. 

Speed  of  the  Crack  Tea  Clippers  Compared. 

The  Falcons  best  point  was  to  windward, 
where  she  showed  a  great  superiority  over  her  pre- 
decessors. Captain  Keay,  who  commanded  Falcon 
and  Ariel  in  turn,  says  that  Ariel  was  a  knot  faster 
all  round  than  Falcon. 

Titania  with  more  beam  was  stiffer  and  not  so 
ticklish  to  handle  as  the  two  sister  ships  Ariel  and 
Sir  Lancelot.  Spindrift  was  very  fast  off  the 
wind  but  the  Steele  clippers  had  slightly  the  best  of 
her  on  a  wind. 

Fiery  Cross,  Taeping,  Serica  and  Lahloo  with 
their  single  topsails  were  at  their  best  in  light 
breezes.  Kaisow,  a  very  narrow  ship,  was  not  as 
fast  as  her  contemporaries  except  in  light  winds, 
Forward  Ho  and  Windhover  were  good  wholesome 
all-round  ships,  and  very  fast  when  hard  sailed, 
which  was  not  often,     Leander  was  considered  by 


156  THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS 

many  to  be  as  fast  as  Thermopylae,  but  she  suffered 
from  bad  captains.  Lothair  was  one  of  the  fastest 
of  the  lot  in  light  and  moderate  breezes,  but  had  not 
the  power  to  stand  driving  in  heavy  weather. 
Norman  Court  could  outweather  and  outsail  the 
fleet  on  a  wind  but  was  not  so  fast  running. 
Thermopylae  and  Cutty  Sark,  being  larger  and 
more  powerful,  stood  driving  in  heavy  weather 
better  than  the  graceful  Steele  flyers  and  had  much 
the  best  of  it  when  running  their  easting  down.  In 
hard  breezes  Cutty  Sark  was  the  fastest  ship  of  the 
fleet,  but  in  light  weather  Thermopylae  and  the 
Steele  cracks  could  beat  her. 

Yet  taking  them  all  round  there  was  very  little 
difference  in  speed  between  the  best  known  of  the 
clippers,  and  in  the  racing  one  can  safely  say  that 
their  captains  had  as  much  or  more  to  do  with  their 
success  or  failure  than  the  ships  themselves. 

I  have  collected,  where  I  could,  instances  of  ships 
in  company,  which  will  show  at  once  the  level  sailing 
of  the  first  rankers. 

Ariel  and  Spindrift  were  over  a  week  in  com- 
pany in  the  China  Seas  when  homeward  bound  in 
1868,  and  Ariel  only  succeeded  in  getting  through 
Anjer  Strait  ahead  by  a  daring  piece  of  navigation 
on  the  part  of  her  commander. 

On  another  occasion  Ariel  was  six  days  in  com- 
pany with  Fiery  Cross,  the  wind  being  mostly  ahead 
and  from  a  fresh  breeze  to  light  airs,  and  Captain 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  157 

Keay  told  me  that  in  all  that  time  he  only  gained 
about  a  mile  or  a  couple  of  points  to  weather. 

Flyiing  Spur  and  Sir  Lancelot  in  1867  were  ten 
days  in  company  running  down  to  St.  Helena. 
Again  Flying  Spur  was  in  company  with  Taeping  for 
seven  days. 

Sir  Lancelot  and  Norman  Court  were  a  week  in 
company  going  down  the  China  Sea  homeward 
bound  in  1 874.  In  the  same  year  Norman  Court  and 
Kaisow  were  in  sight  of  each  other  most  of  the 
way  between  Beachy  Head  and  the  line. 

In  1872,  when  racing  home,  Thermopylae  and 
Cutty  Sark  were  within  a  few  hours  of  each  other 
from  Shanghai  right  down  to  the  Cape,  where,  Cutty 
Sark,  when  leading,  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  her 
rudder. 

These  few  instances  will  show  how  narrow  was 
the  margin  in  speed  between  the  clippers. 

The  Handling  of  a  Tea  Clipper. 

The  handling  of  a  tea  clipper  was  a  ticklish 
business,  and  the  captain  who  went  into  the  tea 
races  after  being  used  to  slower  and  less  sensitive 
craft  often  found  himself  all  at  sea  and  made  a  bad 
mess  of  it  at  first. 

A  case  in  point  was  the  dismasting  of  the  Titania. 
In  clipper  ships  it  was  bad  practice  to  put  your  helm 
up  in  a  squall,  though  the  Board  of  Trade  only 
recognised  that  manoeuvre  when  one  was  passing 
the  examiners. 


158  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Experienced  tea-ship  captains  invariably  gave 
strict  orders  to  an  officer,  who  had  just  come  out  of 
a  non-clipper,  never  to  keep  away  in  a  squall,  but  to 
luff  and  shake  the  squall  out  of  her,  though  the 
officer  had,  of  course,  to  be  careful  not  to  get  his 
ship  aback,  and  there  was  also  the  danger  of 
splitting  sails. 

The  danger  of  putting  the  helm  up  in  a  sensitive 
and  heavily-sparred  clipper  was  this.  As  the  wind 
freed  the  ship  gathered  more  way,  and,  her  yards 
being  more  fore  and  aft  owing  to  her  long  lower 
masts  than  those  of  other  ships,  the  sails  got  the  full 
weight  of  the  squall  abeam.  If  the  ship  was  the 
least  bit  tender,  or  it  was  an  extra  heavy  puff,  she 
would  put  her  rail  under  so  far  that  the  helm  lost  its 
power  over  her.  Then,  probably,  the  halliards 
would  be  let  fly,  but,  owing  to  the  angle  at  which  the 
ship  was  heeled,  the  yards  would  not  come  down, 
which  meant  that  something  had  to  go. 

In  TitanicCs  case,  she  encountered  a  fierce  squall 
just  north  of  the  Cape  Verds.  Her  captain,  Bobby 
Deas,  who  had  come  from  a  wagon  called  the 
Reigate,  ordered  the  helm  to  be  put  up.  Even  so, 
if  he  had  been  in  time  to  get  the  ship  off  the  wind 
before  the  weight  of  the  squall  struck  her,  all  would 
have  been  well ;  but  he  was  too  late.  The  squall 
caught  her  square  on  the  beam.  She  went  right 
over  until  her  fairleads  were  in  the  water.  The 
topsail  yards  stuck  at  the  mastheads,  and  away  went 


TH£    CHINA   CUPPERS  159 

the  foremast,  jibboom,  main  topmast,  and  mizen 
top^lant  mast. 

The  Titania,  Ariel,  and  Sir  Lancelot  were  ships 
that  required  very  carefvJ  handling  and  wanted 
knowing,  but  once  a  captain  got  the  hang  of  them 
they  would  do  anything  for  him  but  speak. 

These  three  ships  were  very  fine  aft,  with  a 
counter  like  a  yacht,  which  had  a  nasty  habit  in  bad 
weather  of  dishing  up  the  seas.  This  fineness  aft 
also  caused  them  to  be  troublesome  boats  to  put 
about  in  a  rough  sea,  as  they  fetched  sternway  so 
quickly,  and,  of  course,  then  took  heavy  water 
aboard  aft.  Thus  it  was  customary  to  wear  them 
round  when  there  was  a  nasty  sea  running. 

No  greater  proof  of  the  way  these  Steele  clippers 
were  cut  away  aft  can  be  given  than  the  story, of 
how  Captain  England  backed  the  Titania  up  the 
Shanghai  River.  In  turning  up  the  river  he  found 
that  she  stirred  the  mud  up  every  time  she  came 
about  and  was  very  slow  in  stays.  So  on  one 
.board,  instead  of  staying,  he  threw  everything  aback, 
brought  her  stern  up  to  the  wind,  and  sailed  her 
across  backwards ;  and  this  he  continued,  making 
one  tack  bow  first  and  the  other  stern  first. 

The  fact  is  that  the  Steele  clippers  were  a  wee 
bit  too  fine  aft.  On  the  other  hand,  the  early 
Aberdeen  clippers  did  not  have  enough  bearing 
forward,  with  the  result  that  they  were  terribly 
wet  in  anything  of  a  head  sea. 


160  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Most  of  the  tea  clippers  were  inclined  to  be  on 
the  tender  side.  Some  of  them,  indeed,  were  so 
overhatted  as  to  be  dangerously  crank,  but  such 
ships  were  never  in  the  first  flight.  But  when 
cleverly  handled  no  square-rigged  ship  that  ever 
sailed  the  seas  was  as  handy  and  willing  as  these 
beautiful  little  tea  ships. 

The  Owners. 

Amongst  the  tea-ship  owners  there  were 
many  men  of  the  good  old-fashioned  type,  who 
loved  their  ships  and  took  more  interest  in  them 
than  they  did  in  their  balance  sheets.  Though 
keen  enough  business  men,  they  had  that  pride  in 
their  ships  which  insisted  that  everything,  down  to 
the  smallest  detail,  should  be  of  the  very  best. 
Such  owners  trusted  their  captains  and  gave  them 
a  free  hand,  and  were  as  liberal  and  generous  in 
their  treatment  of  their  employees  as  they  were 
regarding  the  outfit  and  upkeep  of  their  ships. 
Their  vessels  never  lacked  paint  or  rope  any  more 
than  their  captains  lacked  a  bonus  or  their  crews  a 
sufficiency  of  good  provisions. 

Many  of  them  were  old  sea  captains,  who  had 
either  set  up  for  themselves  or  else,  owing  to  their 
great  experience  and  distinguished  careers,  had 
obtained  partnerships  in  good  firms.  Of  such  were 
Maxton,  who  commanded  Lord  of  the  Isles  and 
Falcon ;  Rodger,  who  commanded  Kate  Carnie ; 
and  Killick,  who  commanded  the  Challenger.     And 


THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS  161 

most  of  the  other  owners  had  at  one  time  or  another 
made  voyages  on  their  own  ships,  and  knew  them  as 
a  sailor  knows  a  ship. 

These  men,  as  I  have  said,  loved  their  ships,  and 
the  loss  of  a  ship  meant  far  more  to  them  than  a  mere 
pocket  loss  of  cash.  A  case  in  point  was  the  wreck 
of  the  Spindrift  on  Dungeness,  which  broke  old 
Findlay's  heart  and  resulted  in  his  mind  giving  way. 

Probably  one  of  the  best  known  of  the  old- 
fashioned  type  of  shipowner  was  John  Willis, 
Captain  John,  as  he  was  called  in  shipping  circles, 
who,  with  his  white  hat,  was  almost  as  familiar  a 
landmark  as  the  dock  capstan  on  the  pierhead  of 
the  West  India  Docks.  No  ship  of  his  ever 
departed  or  arrived  without  his  personal  farewell  or 
greeting  at  the  dock  gates. 

The  following  extracts  from  a  friendly  article  in 
Fairplay  will  give  a  good  idea  of  this  fine  old 
shipowner : — 

"John,  better  known  as  Captain  John,  commanded 
one  of  his  father's  ships  before  he  was  well  out  of  his 
teens,  and  his  contemporaries  will  tell  you  no 
smarter  man  ever  trod  a  quarter-deck.  Nothing  but 
the  best  and  plenty  of  it  will  do  for  John  when  his 
ships  are  in  question.  Once  when  one  of  his  ships 
had  run  off  her  class,  and  it  was  found  that  it  would 
cost  more  to  replace  her  than  she  was  worth,  he  sold 
her  to  a  ship  breaker  at  a  low  price  in  order  that 
she  should  be  broken  up,  having  refused  a  higher 

M 


162  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

price  for  her  to  work.      'If,'  he  said,   'she  is  not 
good  enough  for  me  she  ought  not  to  go  to  sea 
again.'       If   I    were    to    say    that    John's    temper 
is  exactly  that  of  a  lamb  I  am  afraid  I  should  be 
rough  on  the  lambs.     He  is  as  hard  as  iron  and  as 
straight  as  the  day.     He  calls  a  spade  a  spade,  and 
if  he  does  not  like  a  man  he  calls  him  a  scoundrel. 
That  is  his  word.     He  does  not  mean  much  by  it, 
and  he  applies  it  indiscriminately  to  anything  that 
offends  him.     John  says  what  he  thinks,  but  no  one 
is  much  the  worse  for  it.     He  is  rich  and  a  bachelor, 
a  favourite  with  the  ladies.     With  whatever  faults 
he  has  he  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the  old-fashioned, 
high-class  shipowner." 

After  his  trouble  with  the  underwriters  over 
Black  Adder's  misfortunes  John  Willis  never  insured 
his  ships.  He  was  also  peculiar  in  never  allowing 
his  captains  to  have  any  interest  in  them. 

The  Captains. 

No  man  had  more  to  do  with  the  reputation 
of  a  ship  than  her  captain.  In  the  China  trade 
daring,  enterprise,  and  endurance  were  the  sine  qua 
nons  of  a  successful  skipper.  And  many  a  speedy 
ship,  as  we  shall  see,  was  never  given  a  chance  of 
doing  herself  justice,  owing  to  her  misfortune  in  the 
way  of  captains.  First-class  men  were  so  scarce 
that  I  can  barely  scrape  up  a  dozen  worthy  of 
remembrance. 

There  were  many  safe,  steady  goers,  but  these 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  163 

were  not  the  passage  makers.  It  required  dash  and 
steadiness,  daring  and  prudence  to  make  a  crack 
racing  skipper,  and  these  are  not  attributes  oi 
character  which  are  often  found  in  conjunction.  A 
born  racing  skipper  has  always  been  as  rare  as  a 
born  cavalry  leader,  and  those  in  command  of  the 
tea  ships  proved  no  exception  to  this  rule.  Most 
men  were  either  too  cautious  or  too  reckless — added 
to  which  the  China  Coast  was  very  wet  (sailor's 
parlance)  in  those  days,  and  a  drunken  captain  was 
too  often  the  explanation  of  a  fine  ship's  non-success. 

However,  there  were  a  few  men,  who  held  the 
necessary  qualities  of  a  tea-ship  commander,  whose 
endurance  equalled  their  energy,  whose  daring  was 
tempered  by  good  judgment,  whose  business  capa- 
bilities were  on  a  par  with  their  seamanship,  and  whose 
nerves  were  of  cast  iron.  These  men  could  easily 
be  picked  out  of  the  ruck,  for  their  ships  were  invari- 
ably in  the  front  of  the  battle.  Amongst  the  best 
known  were  Robinson  of  Sir  Lancelot,  Keay  oi  Ariel, 
McKinnon  of  Taeping,  Kemball  of  Thermopylae, 
Andrew  Shewan  of  Norman  Court,  Burgoyne  of 
Titania,  John  Smith  of  Lahloo,  and  Orchard 
of  Lothair. 

There  are  many  ways  of  making  a  passage,  and 
as  many  of  sailing  a  ship.  Some  captains  invariably 
made  good  tracks,  others  did  not  bother  about 
mileage  as  long  as  they  could  keep  their  ships 
moving,   others   again  prided  themselves   on   their 


164  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

daring   navigation  in  cutting  corners   and   dashing 
through  narrow  channels  at  night. 

The  clippers,  like  thoroughbred  horses,  responded 
to  the  master  touch  like  things  of  life  ;  Robinson,  for 
instance,  was  said  to  be  worth  an  extra  half-knot  an 
hour  on  any  ship  ;  this  could  only  be  done  by  the 
most  sleepless  vigilance. 

Thus  the  strain  of  a  three  months'  race  was 
naturally  tremendous.  Some  captains  only  went 
below  to  change  their  clothes  or  take  a  bath  ;  others 
used  the  settee  in  the  chart-room  or  even  a  deck- 
chair  as  a  bed.  This  was  the  habit  of  old  Captain 
Robertson,  of  the  Cairngorm,  who  during  the  home- 
ward run  never  turned  in  but  dosed  with  one  eye 
open  in  a  deck-chair  on  the  poop. 

Captain  Keay,  of  Ariel,  writing  of  his  passage 
down  the  China  Coast,  remarks  :  "  My  habit  during 
those  weeks  was  never  to  undress  except  for  my 
morning  bath,  and  that  often  took  the  place  of  sleep. 
The  naps  I  had  were  of  the  briefest  and  were 
mostly  on  deck." 

Many  a  man  broke  down  after  a  few  years  of  it, 
but  the  giants,  such  as  Keay  or  Robinson,  went  on 
and  on  without  a  rest,  and,  still  more  wonderful, 
with  hardly  a  serious  accident. 

Ruses  used  by  the  Captains  against  one  another. 

The  excitement  of  the  racing  was,  of  course, 
doubled  when  the  ships  were  in  company.  Some 
captains  had  a  strong  dislike  to  sailing  in  company, 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  165 

as  it  increased  the  tension  ;  thus  Captain  Care  of  the 
Lord  Macaulay  invariably  had  a  man  stationed  on 
his  fore  royal  yard,  whose  timely  warning  enabled 
him  to  keep  the  horizon  between  himself  and  a  rival. 

Speaking  of  this  habit  of  Captain  Care's  reminds 
me  of  a  trick  he  once  played  on  the  Elizabeth 
Nicholson. 

The  Lord  Macaulay  was  approaching  a  narrow 
passage  between  two  islands  in  the  Java  Seas,  and 
it  was  getting  on  for  sundown  when  her  rival,  a  new 
ship,  the  Elizabeth  Nicholson,  with  a  captain  who 
was  also  new  to  the  China  Seas,  was  sighted  astern 
bringing  up  a  breeze. 

Captain  Care  who  knew  the  passage  well,  and, 
who  had  meant  to  go  through  it  during  the  night, 
determined  to  take  advantage  of  the  other  captain's 
inexperience  in  an  effort  to  shake  him  off. 

He  began  to  shorten  sail  as  if  he  meant  to  bring 
up  for  the  night,  and  was  at  once  gratified  by  seeing 
the  guileless  captain  of  the  Elizabeth  Nicholson 
prepare  to  follow  suit.  In  order  to  give  the  other 
ship  time,  Captain  Care  pretended  to  miss  stays, 
then  as  soon  as  the  Nicholson  was  within  hearing 
distance,  he  sang  out  loudly  :  "  Stand  by  and  let  go 
the  anchor."  It  was  then  just  on  dusk.  Care  waited 
until  he  heard  the  plunge  of  the  Nicholson! s  anchor 
and  the  roar  of  the  chain  through  the  hawse-pipe, 
upon  which  he  at  once  filled  away  again  on  the  Lord 
Macaulay,  and  slipping  through  the  channel  during 


166  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

the    night,    was    thus    enabled    to   gain   a   lead   of 
70  miles. 

He  did  not  sight  the  Nicholson  again  until  he  was 
off  the  Scillies,  when  she  was  seen  away  to  the 
norrard.  Care  managed  to  get  into  the  Lizard, 
then  the  nor'-west  wind  coming  away  strong,  he 
boomed  up  channel  and  arrived  nearly  a  week  ahead. 
He  was  specially  pleased  at  this  victory,  as  the 
skipper  of  the  Elizabeth  Nicholson  had  treated  the 
idea  of  the  Lord  Macaulay  being  able  to  beat  his 
new  ship  with  scorn,  and  was  so  strait-laced  into  the 
bargain  that  he  refused  even  to  bet  the  proverbial 
hat  on  the  result. 

It  was  in  quite  a  different  fashion  that  Captain 
Robinson  of  the  Sir  Lancelot  fooled  Captain  Innes 
of  the  Spindrift  in  the  1869  race.  The  Spindrift 
had  sailed  from  Foochow  on  the  4th  of  July,  13  days 
heiore  Sir  Lancelot;  nevertheless  Robinson  managed 
to  overhaul  Innes  off  the  Cape,  and  one  fine  clear 
morning  the  Spindrift  sighted  a  ship  on  her  star- 
board beam,  which  signalled  the  number  of  the 
City  of  Dunedin.  On  his  arrival  Captain  Innes 
reported  speaking  the  City  of  Dunedin  on  31st 
August  off  the  Cape,  little  knowing  that  the  vessel 
was  in  reality  his  rival,  the  Sir  Lancelot,  which  had 
already  arrived  in  the  Thames,  five  days  ahead  of  him. 

On  another  occasion  Captain  Keay  in  the  Ariel 
got  the  better  of  Spindrift.  This  was  in  1868. 
The   two   vessels   had   travelled    nearly  the  whole 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  167 

length  of  the  China  Coast  in  company  until  one 
evening  found  them  almost  becalmed  off  the  West 
Coast  of  Borneo.  Both  ships  stood  in-  to  get  the 
land  breeze  until  at  8  p.m.  they  were  so  close  on  top 
of  the  land  that  Spindrift  went  about  and  stood  out 
to  sea  again.  But  Captain  Keay,  putting  out  all  his 
lights,  held  on  and  with  his  lead  going  crept  nearer 
and  nearer  the  shore.  At  midnight  he  had  9 
fathoms.  Then  came  the  first  puff  of  the  land 
breeze  and  he  immediately  hove  round  on  the  port 
tack.  The  next  three  casts  of  the  lead  gave  5,  i^\, 
and  4  fathoms,  so  he  was  obliged  to  keep  off  a  bit, 
but  all  the  time  the  breeze  was  freshening,  and  as 
he  stood  away  on  his  course  he  was  rewarded  for 
his  daring  by  a  last  glimpse  of  Spindrift's  port  light 
as  she  lay  becalmed  in  the  offing. 

On  moonlight  nights  daring  captains  often  stole  a 
march  on  their  rivals  by  cutting  through  Stolzes 
Channel  in  Caspar  Straits  or  taking  the  Alias 
Passage  out  of  the  Banda  Sea  instead  of  the  Ombai 
Passage.  I  have  already  described  Captain  Enright's 
daring  navigation  inside  the  Coral  Reef  off  Banca 
Island,  the  night  when  the  American  clipper  Memnon 
got  ashore. 

The  Pride  of  Captains  in  their  Ships. 

The  following  instance  will  give  some  idea 

of  the  pride  these  captains  had  in  their  beautiful  ships. 

Captain   Stainton   Clarke,  who   commanded   the 

four-masted  barque  Loch  Carron  for  so  many  years, 


168  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

served  his  time  and  finally  gained  his  first  command 
in  Skinner's  Castles. 

Whilst  he  was  serving  as  an  officer  on  board  the 
Edinburgh  Castle,  he  was  sent  aboard  the  Titania 
one  evening  with  a  message  for  her  captain,  the 
notorious  Dandy  Dunn,  whose  nickname  was  the 
result  of  predilection  for  frockcoats  and  lavender 
kid  gloves. 

As  soon  as  Clarke  had  delivered  himself  of  his 
message.  Captain  Dunn  asked  : 

"Is  this  the  first  time  you  have  been  aboard  the 
Titania  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir,"  replied  young  Clarke. 

Upon  which  Dandy  Dunn  called  out  impressively 
to  his  first  officer  : 

"  Mister,  take  a  lamp  and  show  Mr.  Clarke  over 
the  ship." 

Tea  Clipper  Crews. 

The  crews  of  the  tea  clippers  would  make  a 
modern  shipmaster's  mouth  water.  Britishers  to  a 
man,  they  were  prime  seamen  and  entered  into  the 
racing  with  all  the  zest  of  thorough  sportsmen. 
Many  are  the  stories  of  their  keenness  on  the  home- 
ward run. 

Thermopylae's  crew  are  stated  to  have  spread  their 
blankets  in  the  rigging  as  an  auxiliary  to  her  sails. 

In  the  great  race  of  1866,  the  crews  oi  Serica  and 
Fiery  Cross  backed  a  month's  pay  against  each  other. 

"  Often,"  relates  Captain  Care,  "  have  I  seen  the 


THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS  169 

hands  racing  aloft  in  nothing  but  their  shirts  at  the 
cry  of  '  All  hands  reef  topsails.' "  And  this,  mind 
you,  not  in  the  tropics  but  off  the  stormy  Cape  or  in 
the  cold  North  Atlantic  weather. 

Captain  Keay  used  to  time  his  crew  putting  the 
Arte/  about.  In  ten  minutes  from  the  calling  of  all 
hands,  the  Ariel  was  round,  yards  trimmed,  ropes 
coiled  down  clear  for  stays,  bowlines  hauled,  the 
tacks  down  and  the  watch  sent  below. 

And  Captain  Shewan  of  Norman  Court  declared : 
"With  all  hands  going  about,  we  would  have  the 
ropes  coiled  up  in  ten  minutes  from  the  ready 
about  order." 

The  Shanghai  pilot  once  timed  the  Norman  Court 
getting  underway  and  swore  that  her  anchor  was 
lifted  and  sail  made  in  twenty  minutes.  She  was  an 
easy  working  ship  and  her  crew  were  accustomed  to 
walk  her  topsail  yards  to  the  masthead  in  smooth 
water. 

The  following  instance  of  smartness  in  repairing 
damage  I  take  from  Captain  Keay's  abstract  of 
AriePs  maiden  passage  : — 

"Saturday,  7th  October,  1865. — 7.30  a.m.,  main 
topgallant  mast  broke  short  off  by  the  cap  and  at 
royal  masthead — in  three  pieces,  and  the  rigging 
broke  the  after  topmast  crosstree.  Called  all  hands 
to  send  down  the  wreck.  Brought  topgallant  yard 
to  collar  of  topmast  stay  and  sent  down  the  sail  and 
other  yards,   etc.      The   starboard   watch   got   the 


170  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Other  mast  hoisted  out  of  mainmast,  which  was  no 
easy  job,  and  when  got  on  deck  found  the  heel  so 
splintered  and  chafed  that  had  we  been  where 
another  could  be  got,  it  would  not  have  been  sent 
aloft.  Bolted  the  splintered  heel  together  and  got 
it  ready  for  going  aloft. 

"At  I  p.m.,  watch  busy  getting  rigging  cleared  and 
mast  ready  (not  work  for  all  hands  about  the  mast), 
found  that  hoop  and  iron  grummet  at  royal  mast- 
head had  been  lost  overboard. 

"6  p.m.,  commenced  to  heave  the  mast  up. 

"9.30  p.m.,  fidded  the  mast ;  got  stays  and  back- 
stays set  up  by  midnight. 

"Sunday,  8th  October,  1865. — Proceeding  to  get 
main  topgallant  yard  across  and  sail  bent  and  set ; 
royal  yard  up  and  sail  set. 

"8.30  a.m.,  got  finished,  cleared  the  decks  up." 

I  could  quote  many  other  instances  of  this  sort 
to  show  what  clipper  ship  crews  could  do,  but 
this  will  easily  be  seen  when  I  come  to  describe 
the  racing. 

There  has  been  a  good  deal  said  about  the  double 
crews  of  the  tea  clippers.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they 
were  by  no  means  overmanned,  especially  when 
freights  began  to  fall;  and,  when  one  remembers  the 
crews  of  sixty  to  eighty  men  carried  by  the  little 
iocx)-ton  Blackwall  frigates,  one  is  almost  inclined 
to  think  that  the  tea  ships  had  barely  sufficient  men. 

In  i860,  when  freights  were  at  their  height.  Lord 


THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS  171 

Macaulay  had  a  crew  of  40  all  told.  And  Flying 
Spurs  complement  consisted  of  twenty  able  seamen, 
two  ordinary  seamen,  two  midshipmen,  bo's'n, 
sailmaker,  carpenter,  joiner,  butcher,  cook,  two 
stewards,  three  officers,  and  captain — thirty-six  all 
told.  Ariel  and  Sir  Lancelot  carried  captain,  two 
mates,  bo's'n,  sailmaker,  carpenter,  cook,  steward, 
and  twenty-four  able  seamen — a  total  of  thirty-two. 
This  was  for  the  passage  home,  when  two  extra 
A.B.s  were  generally  shipped  at  Hong  Kong. 

But  it  must  be  remembered  that  every  man  was 
an  A.B.  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  term.  With  torn 
sails  constantly  under  repair  it  was  necessary  that 
every  man  should  know  how  to  use  a  palm.  Such 
entries  as  the  following  were  continually  on  the 
work  slate: — "Watch  side  seaming  and  repairing 
torn  sails." 

Undoubtedly  the  crew  of  a  tea  clipper  had  very 
little  rest  when  racing.  This,  however,  was  made 
up  for  by  the  excitement.  The  tension  of  the 
racing  was  never  off,  and  spread  to  all  hands,  who 
caught  the  exhilaration  of  it  and  became  animated 
with  a  fine  esprit  de  corps,  such  as  is  almost  as  dead 
as  the  dodo  in  these  modern  days  of  machinery  and 
self-interest,  trade  unions  and  ship  managers. 

"Thermopylae's"  Cock. 

No  story  shows  the  pride  of  the  crews  in 
their  ships  better  than  the  theft  of  Thermopylae  s 
cock.       When    she    arrived    in    Foochow    on    her 


172  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

maiden  voyage,  after  two  record  passages,  she 
surprised  the  other  ships  at  the  Pagoda  Anchorage 
by  exhibiting  a  gilded  cock  of  victory  at  her  main 
truck.  This  was  too  much  for  the  crews  of  the 
other  vessels,  which  already  had  tea  races  to  their 
credit,  whilst  Thermopylae  still  had  hers  to  win. 
The  story  goes  that  a  sailor  on  the  Taeping  jumped 
overboard  and  swam  across  to  the  Thermopylae 
whilst  her  officers  and  crew  were  having  a  grand 
spread  below  in  honour,  perhaps,  of  her  captain's 
birthday.  Climbing  the  cable,  he  got  aboard 
unseen,  and  soon  removed  the  cock  from  its  proud 
position,  then  shinning  to  the  deck  swam  safely 
back  to  his  own  ship  with  the  emblem  of  victory  in 
his  arms.  When  the  Thermopylae's  crew  discovered 
their  loss  the  fat  was  in  the  fire,  and  words,  if  not 
blows,  occurred  when  any  of  the  rival  crews  met. 
Indeed,  the  incident  caused  a  great  deal  of  trouble, 
and  nearly  led  to  a  lawsuit.  Captain  Allan,  of  the 
Aberdeen  liner  Marathon,  who  was  mate  of  the 
Thermopylae  at  the  time,  declares  that  the  plot  to 
carry  off  the  cock  was  hatched  by  the  officers  and 
crews  of  all  the  other  clippers.  But,  be  this  as  it 
may,  the  removal  of  the  proud  emblem  was  carried 
out  as  above. 

Thermopylae  never  recovered  her  golden  cock, 
but  she  soon  replaced  it  with  another,  which  she 
carried  proudly  at  her  main  truck  for  the  rest  of  her 
existence. 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  173 

Outward  and  Intermediate  Passagesi 

The  voyages  of  the  tea  clippers,  though 
barely  a  year  in  length,  showed  a  remarkable 
mileage.  The  outward  passage  was  either  to  Hong 
Kong,  Shanghai,  or  Melbourne.  The  outward 
cargoes  were  heavy  ones,  consisting  generally  of 
Manchester  bales  and  lead. 

Thermopylae,  of  course,  held  the  record  to 
Melbourne  with  her  famous  60  days  passage. 
Ariel's  80  days  to  Hong  Kong  was  also  a  wonder- 
ful performance,  accomplished  as  it  was  by  the  long 
eastern  route  and  against  the  monsoon.  Leander 
is  credited  with  the  record  of  96  days  to  Shanghai, 
closely  followed  by  Cutty  Sark  with  99  days  in 
1870-71. 

Between  their  arrival  in  China  and  the  time  for 
loading  the  first  teas  the  clippers  traded  up  and 
down  the  coast,  sometimes  as  far  north  as  Japan,  at 
others  round  to  Singapore  and  Rangoon,  but,  as  a 
rule,  carrying  rice  from  Saigon,  Bangkok,  and  other 
rice  ports  to  Hong  Kong. 

The  following  epitomes  will  give  some  idea  of  the 
mileage  covered : — 

Ariel  in  1867. 

London  to  Hong  Kong,  Hong  Kong  to  Yokohama,  Yokohama  to  Hong 
Kong,  Hong  Kong  to  Saigon,  Saigon  to  Hong  Kong,  Hong  Kong  to 
Foochow,  Foochow  home. 

Ariel  in  1868. 

London  to  Shanghai,  Shanghai  to  Hong  Kong,  Hong  Kong  to  Saigon, 
Saigon  to  Hong  Kong,  Hong  Kong  to  Saigon,  Saigon  to  Hong  Kong,  Hong 
Kong  to  Foochow,  Foochow  home. 


174  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Sir  Launcelot  in  1869. 
London  to  Hong  Kong,  Hong  K,ong  to  Bangkok,   Bangkok  to   Hong 
Kong,  Hong  Kong  to  Saigon,  Saigon  to  Yokohama,  Yokohama  to  Foochow, 
Foochow  home. 

Norman  Court  in  1872. 

London  to  Shanghai,  Shanghai  to  Swatow,  Swatow  to  Kobe,  Kobe  to 
Hong  Kong,  Hong  Kong  to  Whampoa,  Whampoa  to  Macao,  Macao  home. 

Life  on  the  Coast. 

It  was  a  pleasant  life  on  the  coast,  and  the 
tea  clippers  were,  as  a  rule,  happy  ships.  Though 
the  work  was  strenuous  and  the  navigation  often 
perilous  there  was  always  a  spice  of  excitement  to 
keep  monotony  away. 

As  Joseph  Conrad  rightly  remarks:  "The  China 
Seas,  north  and  south,  are  narrow  seas.  They  are 
seas  full  of  every-day,  eloquent  facts,  such  as  islands, 
sandbanks,  reefs,  swift  and  changeable  currents — 
tangled  facts  that  nevertheless  speak  to  a  seaman  in 
clear  and  definite  language." 

In  those  days  the  charts  were  by  no  means  as 
correct  and  complete  as  they  are  now.  I  only  have 
to  quote  a  passage  or  two  from  Captain  Keay's 
abstracts  to  show  this  : — 

"  ist  December,  1865. — By  p.m.  sights  found  that 
Ambla  is  on  chart  about  1 1  miles  too  far  west,  if 
Savu  N.E.  Point  and  Ombai  East  Point  are  laid 
down  right  (confirmed  following  voyages). 

"8th  December,  1865. — Kiel  Island  does  not  exist 
as  placed  on  Imray's  chart  of  1856.  Angour  Island 
pretty  right.  Saw  no  appearance  of  shoal  on  its 
west  side.     On  one  occasion  worked  short  tacks  to 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  175 

southard  along  west  side  of  Pellew  Reef  for  about 
40  miles  north  of  Angour.  Saw  nothing  like  Kiel 
Island.  West  edge  of  reef  very  distinct,  nearly 
awash,  with  many  heads  of  rock  showing  lo  or  12 
feet  above  water. 

"24th  February,  1867. — p.m.,  stood  in  towards 
Onval  Point,  some  3  or  4  miles  to  leeward  of  spot 
marked  Portsmouth  Breakers,  plied  on  and  off 
directly  over  the  spot  without  seeing  anything  of 
them  from  fore  topsail  yard." 

Captain  Shewan,  senior,  using  Dutch  charts 
for  Caspar  Straits,  found  that  the  coast  of 
Borneo  about  Tanjong  Datoo  was  10  miles  out 
in  latitude. 

And  no  doubt  many  of  the  innumerable  wrecks 
are  to  be  accounted  for  by  incorrect  charts.  I  find 
that,  of  the  tea  clippers,  the  following  were  lost  in 
Chinese  waters : — Fiery  Cross  (No.  i),  Loockoo, 
King  Arthur,  Japan,  Childers,  Young  Lockinvar, 
Taewan,  Guinevere  (No.  i),  Taeping,  Serica, 
Lakloo,  Ellen  Rodger,  Black  Prince,  and  Chinaman. 

The  Pilots  on  the  Coast— Chinese  and  European. 

The  ships  were  further  handicapped  by  the 
unreliability  of  the  pilots.  It  was  considered  a  most 
risky  thing  to  take  a  Chinese  pilot.  They  knew 
the  waters  well  enough,  but  were  generally  in  the 
pay  of  the  pirates,  or  even  coast  fishermen,  and  thus 
rarely  missed  an  opportunity  of  putting  the  ships  in 
their   charge   ashore   or   wrecking    them   on   some 


176  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

uncharted  rock,  which  they  purposely  kept  secret 
for  such  occasions. 

Such  a  rock  was  the  pinnacle  rock  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Min  River,  where  the  charts  gave  1 5  fathoms. 
This  rock  was  struck  by  the  Norman  Court  in  1878. 
The  European  pilots  declared  that  it  must  have 
been  a  sunken  wreck.  However,  when  the  clipper 
was  docked  in  Shanghai,  oysters  were  found 
sticking  in  her  bottom.  Captain  Delano,  of  the 
Yankee  clipper  Golden  State,  also  stated  that  he  had 
had  a  shoal  cast  about  the  same  place.  But  it  was 
not  until  two  years  later,  when  the  Benjamin 
Aymar  had  stuck  on  an  uncharted  rock  close  by 
and  remained  there,  that  the  pilots  began  to  believe 
in  the  Norman  Courts  rock.  Then  H.M.  gunboat 
Moorhen  was  sent  down,  and  found  a  pinnacle  rock, 
only  9  feet  below  low  water  springs,  right  on 
Captain  Shewan's  bearings. 

Curiously  enough,  just  before  the  Norman  Court 
had  discovered  this  uncharted  rock  with  her  keel, 
she  had  successfully  employed  a  Chinese  pilot. 
Coming  down  from  Shanghai  for  Foochow  in  thick 
N.E.  monsoon  weather.  Captain  Shewan,  on  hauling 
in  for  the  regular  channel,  found  himself  to  leeward 
of  the  White  Dogs,  He  picked  up  a  Chinese  pilot 
at  daybreak.  It  would  have  taken  a  day  beating 
up  for  the  usual  channel,  and  when  the  pilot  said: 
"  Suppose  you  like,  I  can  take  the  ship  in  as  we  go, 
I   savvy  plenty  water,   can  do  all   right,"  Captain 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  177 

Shewan  agreed  to  risk  it,  knowing  that  the 
Chinaman  was  licensed  by  the  consul.  And  the 
pilot  took  him  through  a  short  cut  into  the  Min 
River  without  mishap. 

Owing  to  the  heavy  drinking  on  the  coast,  the 
European  pilots  were  often  not  much  more  reliable 
than  the  Chinese.  Perhaps  the  best  known  was  old 
Hughie  Sutherland  of  Shanghai,  a  Caithness  man. 

Many  are  the  stories  told  of  this  character.  He 
was  a  notoriously  hard  drinker,  so  you  can  imagine 
the  surprise  of  Charlie  M'Caslin,  the  Californian 
skipper  of  the  Shanghai  tow  boat,  the  Orphan, 
when,  on  boarding  an  inbound  ship,  he  once  found 
old  Hughie  calmly  drinking  milk.  However,  his 
only  comment  was,  "Too  late,  Hughie,  too  late." 

Shortly  after  this  incident  old  Hughie  was  hailed 
before  the  magistrates,  who  would  not  adjudicate 
because  they  said  he  was  too  drunk. 

"You  had  better  decide,"  says  Hughie,  "for  I'll 
be  drunker  to-morrow." 

However,  Hughie  Sutherland  was  a  good  enough 
pilot  when  sober,  though  a  daring  one. 

Once  when  the  Norman  Court  was  leaving 
Shanghai  for  Foochow  to  load  poles  back,  he  came 
aboard  declaring  that  he  had  turned  total  abstainer, 
meant  to  take  a  holiday  and  would  go  the  trip  with 
Captain  Shewan.  It  was  the  end  of  September. 
On  leaving  Woosung,  the  Norman  Court  picked  up 
a  nice  N.E.  breeze. 

N 


178  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Off  Cape  Yangtze,  two  steam  coasters  were  sighted 
ahead  bearing  away  south  for  the  Bonham  Pass. 

Old  Hughie  looked  hard  at  them  for  a  moment 
and  then  turning  to  Captain  Shewan,  said  : 

"  What  do  you  say  ?  Shall  we  follow  those 
steamers  ?  " 

(The  orthodox  course  for  a  sailing  ship  was  round 
the  Saddles.) 

"  A  bit  risky,  isn't  it  ?  "  replied  the  captain. 

"  Look  here ! "  said  Hughie,  seeing  the  other  in 
doubt.  "This  nor'-easter  came  away  this  morning, 
didn't  it?" 

"  Yes." 

"  Well,  you  know  they  always  last  24  hours." 

"Yes." 

"Well,  by  that  time  we  shall  be  through  the 
Narrows,  will  we  not  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Then,  why  not  ?  Anyway  we  have  always  got 
the  anchors." 

"Quite  right,"  agreed  Shewan,  "let  her  go." 

So  they  squared  the  mainyard  and  went  flying 
after  the  steamers.  Old  Hughie  was  right;  the 
breeze  held ;  the  Norman  Court  soon  overhauled 
the  coasters  and  dropped  them  astern  ;  and  she  got 
through  safely  before  dark,  thus  saving  a  day  on  the 
passage  down  to  Foochow. 

That  trip  the  Norman  Court  was  only  23  days 
from    Shanghai    to    Foochow  and    back.      On   the 


THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS  179 

return  passage  poor  old  Hughie  fell  ill  and  died  and 
they  buried  him  at  sea  off  the  Hushan  Islands. 

Captain  Shewan  had  left  his  wife  at  Shanghai, 
and  his  critics  always  put  down  this  fast  trip  to  her, 
but  in  reality  it  was  chiefly  owing  to  the  daring 
pilotage  of  old  Hughie.  He  always  went  into  the 
chains  himself  with  the  lead,  and  if  it  was  possible 
to  save  a  tack  he  would  do  so. 

Chinese  Pirates. 

There  were  other  dangers  in  the  China  Seas 
to  be  reckoned  with  besides  indifferent  pilots,  rocks, 
shoals  and  treacherous  currents.  Pirates  swarmed 
along  the  coast.  For  protection  against  these, 
every  tea  clipper  was  provided  with  an  armoury  of 
muskets,  pistols  and  cutlasses  besides  two  cannons, 
which  were  capable  of  more  than  ornamental  or 
saluting  duties.  And  they  had  special  magazines 
for  powder,  ball  and  grape  shot,  small  arms 
ammunition,  etc. 

Regarding  the  use  of  the  cannon  for  saluting 
purposes,  an  amusing  incident  occurred  in  Shanghai 
in  1868. 

Several  of  the  tea  clippers  were  lying  moored  in 
the  river,  discharging,  etc.,  before  proceeding  to 
Foochow,  when  the  Leander,  having  finished,  un- 
moored and  towed  to  sea.  Her  departure  was 
signalised  by  a  general  salute  from  the  other 
clippers  present. 

And  it  so  happened  that  just  as  the  Argonaut 


180  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

fired  one  of  her  guns  from  the  starboard  side  of  the 
poop,  a  Chinese  man-of-war  junk  happened  to  be 
sailing  past. 

The  wad,  which  had  been  made  purposely  hard 
of  old  rope  in  order  to  raise  a  loud  report,  went 
right  through  the  junk's  mainsail  and  landed  on  the 
quarter  of  another  ship  near  by,  knocking  away 
some  of  the  gilt  carving  on  her  stern.  The  men  on 
the  junk  fell  flat  on  the  deck  with  fright  when  the 
gun  went  off,  and  it  knocked  a  hole  in  her  sail  large 
enough  to  drive  a  wagon  through. 

Though  I  can  find  no  instance  of  these  cannons 
ever  having  been  used  for  self-defence,  their  mere 
presence  often  had  the  desired  effect  of  keeping  the 
pirates  off. 

"Lord  Macaulay"  and  the  Pirate  Lorehas. 

This  is  proved  by  an  adventure  of  the  Lord 
Macaulay.  It  happened  that  in  order  to  avoid  a 
typhoon.  Captain  Care  put  back  into  a  bay  near 
Hong  Kong.  On  running  into  the  bay  he  found  it 
full  of  pirate  lorehas.  However,  he  determined  to 
face  the  pirates  rather  than  the  typhoon,  as  the 
lesser  of  two  evils,  so  he  let  go  his  anchor  and 
putting  on  a  bold  front  lowered  away  his  boat  and 
rowed  off  to  each  junk  in  turn  on  a  tour  of  inspec- 
tion ;  he  pretended  that  he  thought  they  were 
fishermen  and  asked  each  one  if  they  had  any  fish, 
then  satisfied  in  his  mind  as  to  their  real  character, 
he  returned  to  his  own  vessel.     All  through  that 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  181 

night  he  stood  his  crew  to  arms,  but  whether  they 
were  influenced  by  his  cannon,  were  kept  quiet  by 
the  nearness  of  the  typhoon,  or  thought  he  was  not 
worth  the  trouble  of  attacking,  the  pirates  kept  off, 
and  the  following  morning  he  slipped  away. 

The  Pirates  and  « Ariel's"  Sampan  in  Hong  Kong 
Harbour. 

The  neighbourhood  of  Hong  Kong  was 
especially  infested  with  the  most  daring  pirates. 
They  even  ventured  into  the  harbour  itself  on 
cutting  out  expeditions. 

An  incident  of  this  sort  I  find  in  Captain  Keay's 
abstract  log  of  Ariel's  first  voyage  : — 

"20th  April,  1866. — Last  night  at  11.30  p,m., 
while  below  reading,  I  heard  screaming  and  loud  cries 
from  Ahoy  and  others  in  the  sampan  astern.  I  ran 
on  deck,  found  the  watchman  Williams  looking  at 
the  sampan  and  told  him  to  haul  the  boat  up  that 
we  might  get  down  to  help  them  as  they  were  being 
attacked  by  men  in  a  long  '  pull-away '  boat.  There 
were  seventeen  of  them,  twelve  got  into  our  sampan 
and  five  remained  in  the  'pull-away'  boat.  They 
cut  the  rope  so  that  the  boats  drifted  away  and 
hoisted  the  sampan's  sails  to  run  her  out  of  the 
harbour,  but  before  getting  the  rudder  clear  and 
steerage  way,  they  got  under  the  bows  of  a  barque 
next  astern  of  us. 

"  Directly  it  was  seen  that  we  could  not  get  into 


182  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

the  sampan,  I  hailed  the  White  Adder  to  send  men 
in  his  sampan  ;  seven  men  jumped  in  with  cutlasses, 
but  before  getting  there  the  pirates  had  cleared  out, 
leaving  a  chopper  and  large  knife  in  their  hurry  to 
be  off.  I  also  hailed  ships  astern  to  stop  them  if 
their  boats  were  out,  but  none  succeeded. 

"Ahoy's  mother  had  her  hand  cut,  Ahoy  was 
gripped  by  the  throat,  and  was  suddenly  released 
by  striking  backward  with  his  elbow  ;  probably  the 
blow  took  fatal  effect  as  the  man  was  silenced,  and 
Ahoy  believes  he  fell  overboard — a  dead  body  was 
found  in  the  harbour  to-day. 

"  Reported  the  attack  to  captain  of  police  to-day, 
and  have  a  great  mind  to  publish  it  in  the  news- 
papers, in  the  hopes  that  the  British  public  may 
know  how  inefficient  our  rule  is,  that  such  flagrant 
outrages  as  this  and  frequent  piracies  are  possible 
here.  A  collection  of  similar  facts  which  have 
occurred  in  the  past  two  years  in  this  harbour  and 
neighbourhood,  not  a  day's  sail  from  our  squadron  of 
gunboats  and  ships  of  war  would  be  startling  and 
lead  to  prompt  measures." 

The  fact  is  that  at  that  time  the  whole  long-shore 
population  of  the  China  Coast  consisted  of  nothing 
but  vast  rookeries  of  pirates.  The  mysterious 
disappearance  of  the  Caliph  in  the  China  Seas  was 
always  put  down  to  pirates,  as  no  trace  of  her  was 
ever  found,  and  there  was  no  record  of  any  bad 
weather  at  the  time. 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  183 

The  Looting  of  the  "Young  Lochinvar." 

All  Chinese  fishermen  were  ready  for  a  bit  of 
pirating  if  the  chance  came  their  way.  In  1866 
when  the  Voung-  Lochinvar  got  ashore  in  a  fog  at 
the  entrance  to  the  Min  River,  it  was  early  morning 
and  the  fishing  fleet  was  just  putting  to  sea.  The 
stranded  clipper  proved  too  great  a  temptation. 
Swarming  on  board,  they  drove  her  crew  over  the 
side,  and  soon  stripped  her  of  everything  moveable. 
She  was  in  ballast,  coming  in  to  load  new  teas,  and 
in  her  hold  were  some  long  pigs  of  lead.  These 
were  too  heavy  to  handle,  so  the  looters  proceeded 
to  cut  them  into  short  lengths.  They  even  hauled 
the  sails  out  of  the  sail  locker  and  cut  them  into 
lengths  so  that  they  could  be  easily  distributed. 
And  as  the  clipper's  crew  pulled  away  up  the  river, 
their  last  view  of  their  beautiful  ship  showed  her 
masts  and  yards  covered  with  "long-tails,"  as  these 
wreckers  proceeded  to  send  down  her  sails  and 
running  gear. 

In  a  very  short  time  the  Young  Lochinvar  was 
clean  gutted,  and  the  fishing  sampans,  loaded  with 
spoil,  pulling  back  to  their  villages. 

But  if  the  Chinese  pirates  did  occasionally  capture 
a  British  ship,  it  must  be  confessed  that  they  were 
only  getting  a  bit  of  their  own  back.  Perhaps  a  short 
while  before  these  same  pirates  were  coolies  dis^ 
charging  rice  at  Hong  Kong,  where  it  was  the  custom 
to  send  the  ship's  boys   into   the   hold   with   long 


184  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

bamboos,  with  instructions  to  encourage  the  coolies 
to  work  harder  by  giving  them  a  crack  every  now 
and  then  as  they  passed  along. 

Indeed  the  Britisher  of  the  sixties  had  a  fine 
contempt  for  the  yellow  races.  There  was  no  false 
sentiment  about  him.  He  considered  himself  boss 
wherever  he  went  and  he  let  other  people  know  it. 

Cutting  out  Ballast  Lighters  at  Yokohama 
in  1867. 

It  was  in  the  newly-opened  country  of  Japan 
that  he  sometimes  reckoned  without  his  host.  The 
Japanese  are  a  war-like,  high-spirited  race,  and 
though  by  the  sixties  Europeans  had  got  a  foothold  in 
the  country,  it  was  still  a  precarious  one. 

As  many  of  the  Japanese  had  never  seen  a 
European  at  that  date,  even  in  the  seaports,  a  whole 
street  would  turn  out  with  much  laughter  and 
gesticulation  to  watch  one  passing. 

Then,  if  a  Japanese  brave  happened  to  be  about 
and  inflamed  by  wine  or  patriotism,  the  un- 
fortunate European  would  most  likely  be  attacked. 
"  Slashing,"  as  this  mode  of  attack  was  called, 
caused  many  a  man  the  loss  of  a  limb  or  even 
death  in  Nagasaki.  Yet  the  Europeans,  especially 
Britishers,  persisted  in  treating  the  Japs  with  that 
same  contempt  for  an  inferior  race  with  which  they 
treated  the  Chinese. 

The  Norman  Court  in  1872  happened  to  be  load- 
ing Government  rice  in  Hiogo  Bay,  and  had  a  great 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  185 

deal  of  trouble  with  her  Japanese  coolies,  who  cared 
nothing  for  the  authority  of  their  Chinese  stevedore. 
At  last  the  worried  mate  lost  his  temper  and  took 
his  boot  to  one  of  them.  In  a  moment  they  turned 
upon  him  with  their  cargo  hooks.  Only  the 
carpenter  was  by  to  support  him,  and  both  men 
were  unarmed. 

But  the  Britisher  resolutely  faced  them  and  by 
sheer  strength  of  will  held  them  back,  then  watching 
his  opportunity  retreated  up  the  hatchway.  As  the 
carpenter  remarked  afterwards :  "It  was  nearly  a 
case  with  you,  my  son."  Indeed  but  for  his  resolute 
bearing,  they  would  certainly  have  killed  him. 

The  following  incident  will  also  show  the  careless 
way  in  which  the  Japs  were  treated.  In  1867  there 
were  several  clippers  lying  off  Yokohama,  all 
anxious  to  get  discharged  and  away  to  Foochow  for 
the  new  teas.  But  shingle  ballast,  suitable  for  a  tea 
cargo,-  was  scarce  and  had  to  be  brought  in  small 
boats  from  somewhere  up  the  gulf  near  Yeddo. 

About  a  dozen  vessels  were  waiting,  including 
Taeping,  Ariel,  Taitsing,  Chusan  and  Black  Prince, 
and  the  American  ballast  man  was  at  his  wit's  end 
to  please  all  the  skippers.  At  last  he  gave  out  that 
those  who  could  catch  the  lighters  coming  down 
could  take  them  alongside  their  own  vessels. 

This  resulted  in  a  fine  bit  of  sport  especially  for 
the  boys.  The  gigs  of  the  ships  were  manned  and 
sent  away  at  daylight  with  strong  crews  and  spare 


186  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

hands  to  act  as  prize-masters.  These  latter  were 
armed  with  pistols  or  revolvers,  and  perhaps  a  cutlass 
or  musket.  When  the  ballast  fleet  was  sighted 
coming  round  the  point,  each  boat  dashed  forward 
for  one  of  the  lighters.  Then,  as  she  ran  alongside, 
the  prize-master  had  to  jump  aboard,  overawe  the 
Japs  and  compel  them  to  take  the  lighter  to  his 
particular  ship. 

This  required  a  flourish  of  the  pistol  or  a  prick 
with  the  cutlass ;  but  even  so  these  cutting-out 
expeditions  were  not  always  a  success.  Occasionally 
the  Japs  were  obstinate,  and  sailed  off  with  the 
protesting  prize-master,  who,  however,  did  not 
always  protest  very  much,  as  it  generally  meant  a  run 
ashore  and  a  few  hours  poking  his  nose  into  the  social 
customs  of  the  newly- opened  country.  But  he  was 
not  employed  again  in  the  cutting-out  expeditions. 

Sometimes  a  prize-master  jumped  short  and  had 
to  be  fished  out  of  the  sea,  which  caused  much  bad 
language,  as  the  delay  probably  let  in  another  boat. 
Sometimes  he  jumped  full  on  top  of  a  Jap  reclining 
on  the  deck  of  the  lighter.  Then  again  there 
was  trouble. 

But  in  this  happy-go-lucky  way  the  tea  clippers 
were  eventually  ballasted  and  hurried  off  to  load  the 
teas  of  the  season. 

To  Japan  against  the  N.Et  Monsoon. 

Of  all  the  intermediate  passages,  taking  rice 
up  to  Yokohama  from  Hong  Kong  was  by  far  the 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  187 

most  trying  and  unpleasant.  The  clippers  had  the 
full  strength  of  the  N.E.  monsoon  against  them  all 
the  way,  and  it  was  a  steady  thrash  to  windward 
with  hardly  a  favouring  taek.  Day  after  day  the 
same  vicious  N.E.  gale  strained  their  hulls,  split 
their  sails,  and  wore  their  gear.  Nevertheless  these 
gallant  little  ships  made  the  trip  in  under  20  days, 
though  they  returned  in  less  than  half  that  time 
with  the  monsoon  behind  them. 

The  Tea  Ports. 

In  the  old  days  the  tea  was  only  loaded  at 
Canton,  Whampoa,  and  Macao.  Then  Shanghai 
became  a  favourite  port,  if  a  late  loading  one.  But 
when  Foochow  was  opened  it  outdid  the  others  in 
popularity,  owing  to  the  early  date  at  which  its  teas 
were  ready  for  shipment.  ^.ater  in  the  seventies 
Hankow  began  to  attract  attention,  but  by  that  time 
the  racing  was  practically  over. 

Allowances    to    be    made    in    Calculating    the 
Racing  Records. 

In  calculating  the  records  of  the  racing  the 
time  of  year  the  ships  started  and  the  latitude  of 
the  different  ports  they  sailed  from  must  be  taken 
into  consideration.  Thus  the  splendid  times  of  the 
Chrysolite,  Cairngorm,  Lord  of  the  Isles,  and  some 
of  the  American  clippers  in  the  fifties  must  be 
somewhat  discounted  by  the  fact  that  they  started 
late  in  the  year  and  had  the  favourable  N.E. 
monsoon    to   carry  them    down    the   China   Seas. 


188  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Whereas,  in  the  sixties,  the  best  times  were  made 
against  the  S.W.  monsoon.  In  this  respect  also  a 
big  allowance  must  be  made  in  favour  of  vessels 
sailing  from  Shanghai  at  the  end  of  June  or 
beginning  of  July,  when  they  had  the  full  strength 
of  the  S.W.  monsoon  against  them.  Their  handicap, 
when  compared  with  the  Foochow  ships,  was  at 
least  five  or  six  days,  as  in  the  S.W.  monsoon 
Shanghai  is  500  miles  dead  to  leeward  of  Foochow. 

The  first  starters  from  Foochow  had  still  another 
advantage  over  their  Shanghai  rivals  in  that  they 
got  away  before  the  S.W.  monsoon  was  blowing  its 
full  strength  ;  whereas  the  tea  was  never  ready  in 
Shanghai  until  the  monsoon  was  at  its  worst. 

The  Cutty  Sark  invariably  loaded  at  Shanghai 
and  sailed  at  the  worst  season  of  the  year,  and 
because  she  could  not  do  the  trip  in  under  100  days, 
like  her  more  favourably  circumstanced  Foochow 
rivals,  she  was  considered  by  many  to  be  either 
unlucky  or  a  failure,  yet  she  afterwards  proved 
herself  to  be  one  of  the  fastest  ships  ever  built,  the 
only  ship,  in  fact,  which  could  rival  Thermopylae's 
performances  in  the  Australian  trade. 

The  Tea  Chests. 

There  is  one  other  point  which  I  must  not 
overlook  in  comparing  the  different  tea  ports,  and 
that  is  the  size  of  the  tea  chests.  In  Whampoa  the 
tea  was  packed  mostly  in  10  catty  boxes  or  quarter 
chests ;    at  Foochow  one  got  half  chests  and  full 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  189 

chests  in  equal  proportions ;  whilst  at  Shanghai  the 
chests  were  nearly  all  full  chests. 

The  tea  was  always  measured  in  London  on 
arrival,  and,  owing  to  quarter  chests  making  better 
stowage,  there  would  be  some  jC^oo  more  freight 
on  a  vessel  loaded  in  Whampoa  and  the  same  vessel 
loaded  in  Shanghai. 

Preparations  for  the  Race  Home  from  Foochow. 

But  in  the  heyday  of  the  racing,  Foochow 
was  the  loading  port  par  excellence,  and  the  Pagoda 
Anchorage,  just  before  the  tea  came  down  the  river, 
showed  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  fleet  of  ships  the 
world  has  ever  seen. 

The  crack  ships,  which  were  always  the  first  to 
load,  began  to  assemble  about  the  end  of  April ; 
and  until  the  tea  came  down  were  all  engaged  in 
painting,  varnishing,  and  smartening  themselves  up 
and  in  other  ways,  such  as  sheathing  over  their 
channels,  preparing  for  the  fray.  Then  what  a  sight 
they  made  when  all  was  spick  and  span,  with  their 
glistening  black  hulls,  snow-white  decks,  golden 
gingerbread  work  and  carving  at  bow  and  stern, 
newly-varnished  teak  deck  fittings,  glittering  brass, 
and  burnished  copper !  Every  ship,  of  course,  had 
her  distinctive  mast  and  bulwark  colours. 

Ariel's  masts  and  spars  were  painted  flesh  colour. 
The  panels  of  her  bulwarks  and  midshiphouse  were 
pure  white,  with  a  narrow  green  edging  and  a  touch 
of  delicate  pink  stencilling  in  the  centres. 


190  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Sir  Lancelot's  colour  was  pale  green,  Brocklebank 
colour,  for  Captain  Robinson  had  been  brought  up 
in  their  service. 

Some  of  the  ships  went  so  far  as  to  paint  elaborate 
landscapes  or  posies  of  flowers  on  their  bulwark 
panels.  But  none  of  them  could  "excel  the  Aberdeen 
White  Star  clippers,  such  as  Thermopylae  and 
Jerusalem,  when  it  came  to  looks.  Their  green 
sides,  white  figureheads,  white  blocks,  white  lower 
masts,  bowsprit  and  yardarms,  gold  stripe,  and  gold 
scroll  work  were  the  admiration  of  sailors  wherever 
they  went. 

The  amount  of  brass  work  on  these  tea  clippers 
would  have  put  a  modern  steam  yacht  to  shame. 

Ariel,  for  instance,  had  brass  let  in  flush  to  all 
her  bulwark  rails  and  stanchions,  inside  and  out. 
Indeed  she  must  have  shone  in  a  blaze  of  fire,  for, 
when  she  was  in  port,  it  took  four  men  from  6  a.m. 
to  6  p.m.  every  day  to  keep  her  brass  work  clean 
and  bright. 

Norman  Court,  another  beautifully  finished  ship, 
had  a  solid  brass  rail  all  round  her  bulwarks. 

And  when  we  remember  their  brass  cannons, 
binnacles,  bucket  and  harness  cask  hoops,  capstan 
caps,  ship's  bells,  etc.,  we  may  well  imagine  how 
they  would  have  pleased  that  well-known  admiral, 
who  always  wanted  his  ship  to  be  "a  shining, 
sparkling  mass  of  burnished  gold." 

When  all  the  ships  had  been  polished  up,  and  lay 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  191 

with  their  yards  crossed  and  sails  bent,  all  ready  for 
the  arrival  of  the  tea,  a  day  was  set  aside  for  a 
grand  regatta,  in  which  all  the  boats  of  the  fleet 
took  part.  This  was  always  a  great  occasion,  a 
whole  holiday  for  the  crews,  with  liberal  prizes  for 
the  best  cutters,  gigs,  and  sailing  yawls ;  and, 
naturally,  the  rivalry  between  the  different  ships 
was  intense. 

Loading  the  Tea. 

The  tea  came  down  the  river  in  sampans, 
and  the  loading  of  it  at  the  Pagoda  Anchorage  was 
done  with  all  the  Kustle  of  coaling  a  man-of-war 
against  time.  The  first  lighters  down  distributed  a 
ground  tier  to  each  of  the  first  ships,  after  which 
there  were  two  or  three  sampans  alongside  each 
ship  until  she  was  loaded.  The  tea  was  beautifully 
stowed,  tier  on  tier,  by  Chinamen  using  big  mallets. 
It  was  handed  day  and  night,  Sundays  included ; 
and  the  officers  of  the  first  ships  were  relieved  in 
their  tallying  by  those  belonging  to  ships  which  had 
not  that  pride  of  place,  otherwise  there  would  have 
been  no  sleep  for  them  until  the  tea  was  in.  Clarke, 
in  his  Clipper  Ship  Era,  gives  a  very  good  account 
of  this  scene,  which  I  cannot  do  better  than  quote : — 
"  Cargo  junks  and  lorchas  were  being  warped 
alongside  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night ;  double 
gangs  of  good-natured,  chattering  coolies  were  on 
board  each  ship  ready  to  handle  and  stow  the 
matted    chests    of    tea    as    they    came    alongside ; 


192  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

comfortable  sampans,  worked  by  merry,  bare-footed 
Chinese  women,  sailed  or  rowed  in  haste  between 
the  ships  and  the  shore ;  slender  six-oared  gigs, 
with  crews  of  stalwart  Chinamen  in  white  duck 
uniforms,  darted  about  the  harbour ;  while  dignified 
master  mariners,  dressed  in  white  linen  or  straw- 
coloured  pongee  silk,  with  pipe-clayed  shoes  and 
broad  pith  hats,  impatiently  handled  the  yoke  lines. 

"  On  shore  the  tyepans  and  their  clerks  hurried 
about  in  sedan  chairs,  carried  on  the  shoulders  of 
perspiring  coolies,  with  quick  firm  step  to  the 
rhythm  of  their  mild  but  energetic  '  Woo  ho — woo 
ho — woo  ho ! ' 

"  The  broad,  cool  verandah  of  the  clubhouse  was 
almost  deserted.  In  the  great  hongs  of  Adamson, 
Bell ;  Oilman  &  Co.  ;  Jardine,  Matheson ;  Gibb, 
Livingston ;  and  Sassoon,  the  gentry  of  Foochow 
toiled  by  candle  light  over  manifests  and  bills  of 
lading  and  exchange,  sustained  far  into  the  night  by 
slowly-swinging  punkahs,  iced  tea,  and  the  fragrant 
Manila  cheroot." 

Tugboats  were  scarce  at  Foochow  in  those  days, 
and  their  power  was  very  indifferent,  but  the 
competition  to  secure  them  was  generally  great. 
The  Woosung,  an  American-built  boat,  came  down 
from  Shanghai  for  the  season ;  and,  besides  her, 
there  were  the  paddle  boat  Island  Queen,  which  got 
in  a  mess  with  Ariel  in  1866,  and  the  Undine, 
a  screw  boat. 


JOHN  WILLIS &SON. 


JAR0INE,HATHES0N&CO       I  SHAW,MAXrON  &Co  JOSEPH  SOMES 


J.  MACCUNN. 


ABERDEEN  WHITE  STAR) 


J.  FINDLAY. 


BARING   BROS. 


I       J.R.KELSO.  GIBB&C? 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  193 

In  1866  the  tea  fleet  at  Foochow  consisted  of 
sixteen  front-rank  clippers,  and  in  the  two  following 
years  there  were  even  more. 

And  now  that  I  have  given  a  general  idea  of  the 
ships,  their  owners,  captains,  and  crews,  and  the 
exciting  trade  in  which  they  were  engaged,  I  will 
describe  the  clippers  in  detail,  and  make  an  attempt 
to  show  the  wonderful  way  in  which  they  raced 
home  with  the  tea. 

The  ''Falcon,"  First  of  the  Improved  Clippers. 

The  Falcon,  which  was  launched  by  Steele 
in  1859,  has  always  been  considered  so  great  an 
improvement  on  the  famous  heelers  of  the  fifties, 
both  in  her  lines  and  sail  plan,  that  she  is  spoken  of 
as  the  pioneer  ship  of  a  new  era.  If  the  two 
Steeles,  her  designer  and  builder,  deserved  credit, 
great  credit  must  also  be  awarded  to  Captain 
Maxton,  who  superintended  her  building  and  com- 
manded her  for  a  couple  of  voyages.  Indeed,  it 
was  said  at  the  time  that  a  great  many  of  the 
improvements  and  innovations  introduced  into  the 
Falcon  emanated  from  the  brain  of  the  famous 
skipper.  She  was  chiefly  noted  for  her  powers  of 
going  to  windward,  but  she  was  also  very  fast  in 
light  winds. 

The  new  Steele  clipper  did  not  arrive  in  China  in 
time  to  load  the  new  teas  at  Foochow,  but  she  gave 
a  taste  of  her  metal  by  making  the  best  run  home 

from  Shanghai, 
o 


194  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

The  Tea  Race  of  18S9. 


Ship. 

Port  From. 

Date 
Left. 

Captain. 

Where  To. 

Date  of 
Arrival. 

Days 
Out. 

Fitry  Cross     .     . 

Foochow 

June    9 

Duncan 

London 

Oct.  26 

139 

Ellen  Rodger.     . 

,, 

„       lO 

Keay 

j» 

»      24 

136 

Crest  of  the  Wave 

»» 

„     i6 

Steele 

»» 

Nov.  10 

147 

Ziba      .... 

It 

..     19 

Tomlinson 

*f 

Oct.  31 

134 

Sea  Serpent    .     . 

*» 

,,     19 

Whitmore 

oflFPlym'th 

..     27 

130 

Challenger      .     . 

Shanghai 

Aug.    6 

Killick 

London 

Nov.  21 

107 

Falcon  .... 

}) 

i>     23 

Maxton 

If 

Dec.     7 

106 

Stomoway.     .     . 

»» 

Sept.   4 

Hart 

J) 

,.     30 

117 

Cairngorfn      .     . 

Canton 

Aug.  17 

Ryrie 

*» 

..       7 

112 

Robin  Hood    .     . 

Hong  Kong 

Oct.     I 

Cobb 

oS  the  Start 

Jan.    11 

102 

Kate  Carnie  .     . 

Whampoa 

..     25         — 

London      Feb.     8 

io5 

The  year  1859  is  celebrated  in  the  annals  of  the 
tea  races  as  being  the  last  year  in  which  the 
Americans  competed  in  the  English  trade. 

The  American  clipper,  Sea  Serpent,  with  her 
famous  commander,  double  crew  and  weM-known 
reputation,  is  supposed  to  have  received  special 
inducements  to  load  the  first  teas  for  the  English 
market.  Some  declared  that  she  received  ;^ioo 
down  in  Foochow,  so  certain  were  the  shippers  that 
she  would  outstrip  her  rivals.  Another  rumour  was 
that  she  was  to  get  30s.  per  ton  extra  freight  if  she 
beat  the  Crest  of  the  Wave. 

It  was  a  bad  year  in  the  China  Seas,  and  all  the 
ships  made  very  long  passages  to  Anj'er,  Sea  Serpent 
passing  through  the  Straits  on  5th  August,  six  days 
behind  the  speedy  little  barque  Ziba.  The  first  of 
the  ships  to  arrive  in  London  was  the  new  crack 
Ellen  Rodger.  But  somehow  or  other  the  story  has 
arisen  that  the  Sea  Serpent  and  the  Crest  of  the 
Wave  were  the  first  ships  in  the  Channel,  reaching 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  195 

the  Isle  of  Wight  simuhaneously,  and  that  the 
captain  of  the  Sea  Serpent,  leaving  his  mate  and  the 
pilot  to  bring  the  ship  up  to  the  Thames,  landed  and 
hurried  up  to  London  by  train  in  order  to  steal  a 
march  on  the  Crest  of  the  Wave  and  enter  his  ship 
as  the  first  arrival,  a  piece  of  Yankee  slimness  which 
has  gained  credence  the  world  over.  But  a  glance 
at  the  times  of  the  different  vessels  will  at  once 
show  the  incorrectness  of  the  yarn. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  Captain  Whitmore,  on  his 
arrival  in  the  Channel,  did  think  he  had  a  good 
chance  of  winning,  and,  putting  into  Plymouth, 
actually  did  go  up  to  London  by  train  and  enter 
his  ship  before  her  arrival  in  the  Thames.  But 
his  disappointment,  when  he  found  the  Ellen 
Rodger  and  Fiery  Cross  already  docked,  may  be 
imagined.  ^ 

The  best  passage  of  the  year  was  made  by  the 
Aberdeen  clipper,  Robin  Hood,  which,  however, 
sailed  with  the  latter  contingent  at  a  more  favour- 
able season  of  the  year  than  the  Foochow  ships. 

The  Tea  Race  of  1860. 

By  the  year  i860  Foochow  had  become  the 
favourite  tea  port,  and  from  this  date  until  the  end 
of  the  sixties,  the  majority  of  the  cracks  always 
loaded  there,  leaving  Shanghai,  Whampoa  and 
Macao  to  vessels  which  were  past  their  prime  or 
did  not  intend  to  race. 

Of  these  old  timers  the  Northfleet  made  the  best 


196  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

passage  home,  arriving  at  Deal  on   i6th  November, 
114  days  out  from  Whampoa. 

The  chief  times  from  Foochow  were  as  follows  : — 


Ship. 

Captain. 

Date  Left. 

Passed 
Anjer. 

Date 
Arrived. 

Days  Out. 

Ziba.       .     .     . 
£llen  Rodger   . 
Falcon     .     .     . 
Chrysolite     .     . 
Robin  Hood.     . 

Toralinson 

Keay 

Maxton 

Roy 

Cobb 

June     7 

..       7 
„     10 

„     27 
July    19 

July    14 

July   10 

Aug.    s 

„     22 

Oct.    11 

»       4 
Sept.  28 
Oct.   30 
Nov.  20 

126 
119 

no 

124 

In  i860  two  very  celebrated  tea  clippers  were 
built,  namely  the  second  Fiery  Cross  and  the 
Flying  Spur. 

♦♦Fiery  Cross." 

The  Fiery  Cross  was  built  to  replace  the  old 
Fiery  Cross,  which  had  been  wrecked  in  1859.  She 
was  designed  by  Rennie  and  her  half  model  is  to  be 
seen  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum. 

She  was  commanded  on  her  maiden  voyage  by 
Dallas,  who  had  been  so  successful  with  the  first 
Fiery  Cross,  then  Richard  Robinson  had  her  until 
1866,  and  under  these  two  famous  skippers  she 
proved  well  nigh  invincible,  receiving  th?  premium 
for  the  first  vessel  in  dock  on  no  less  than  four 
occasions,  and  being  only  24  hours  behind  in  1864 
and  1866.  Besides  remaining  in  the  fore-front  of 
the  racing  for  years  longer  than  any  other  vessel, 
she  outlived  all  her  contemporaries, 

♦'Flying  Spur." 

The  Flying  Spur  was  built  to  take  the  place 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  197 

of  Cairngorm,  and  was  the  last  clipper  in  which 
Jardine,  Matheson  &  Co.  had  a  large  interest. 

She  also  was  a  very  fast  little  ship,  but,  owing  to 
not  being  sailed  as  hard  as  the  other  cracks,  she  did 
not  remain  very  long  in  the  first  flight. 

Yet  she  showed  up  so  well  when  in  company  with 
other  clippers  that  there  is  little  doubt  that,  but  for 
the  cautiousness  of  her  veteran  skipper  in  carrying 
sail,  she  would  have  made  a  name  almost  equal  to 
that  of  Fiery  Cross.  Perhaps  Flying  Spur's  best 
performance  was  73  days  to  Sydney,  then  on  to 
China,  reaching  Shanghai  on  the  1 20th  day  out  from 
England.  Her  best  run  on  this  occasion  was  328 
miles,  and  her  best  week's  work  2100  miles.  She 
discharged  a  general  cargo  at  Sydney,  and  loading 
coal  in  her  hold  and  horses  in  her  tween  decks,  broke 
the  record  between  Australia  and  Shanghai. 

The  Flying  Spur  cost  ;i^20,ooo  to  build,  being 
of  teak  and  greenheart,  copper  fastened ;  and  she 
carried   1000  tons  of  tea  when  fully  loaded. 

The  largest  shareholder  in  her  was  Sir  Robert 
Jardine,  whose  crest,  a  winged  spur,  gave  the 
reason  for  her  name.  Flying  Spur  was  also  the 
name  of  one  of  Sir  Robert  Jardine's  best  race- 
horses, and  a  model  of  the  head  of  this  horse  with 
the  crest  on  a  shield  below  formed  the  figurehead 
of  the  vessel. 

Captain  Ryrie,  who  left  Cairngorm  to  take  her, 
owned  a  quarter  of  her,  and  being  well  on  in  years, 


198  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

preferred  nursing  her  to  the  strain  of  cracking  on 
through  the  long  passage  home.  But  that  he 
could  press  her  on  occasion  is  proved  by  the 
following  incident : — 

One  morning  Flying  Spur  was  snoring  through 
the  N.E,  trades  under  all  sail  to  royal  staysails,  with 
her  lower  yards  just  touching  the  back-stays. 

At  1 1. 20  a.m.  a  sail  was  sighted  on  the  horizon 
ahead.  This  proved  to  be  the  Glasgow  clipper,  Loch- 
leven  Castle,  80  days  out  from  Rangoon  to  Liverpool. 

At  I  p.m.  the  Flying  Spur  was  up  with  her,  and 
as  the  tea  clipper  went  foaming  by,  the  Lochleven 
Castles  main  topgallant  sail  went  to  ribbons  with  a 
clap  of  thunder,  and  her  mainsail  split  from  top  to 
bottom  ;  at  the  same  moment  the  cook  of  the  Flying 
Spur  with  all  his  pots  and  pans  was  washed  from 
the  galley  to  the  break  of  the  poop.  An  hour  and  a 
half  later  the  Lochleven  Castle  was  out  of  sight  astern. 

The  "Lord  Macaulay.** 

Another  tea  ship  launched  in  i860  was  the 
Lord  Macaulay,  this  vessel  though  never  raced 
against  the  cracks,  was  a  very  fast  and  handy  vessel, 
and  a  great  favourite  on  the  coast.  She  had  a 
chequered  start  to  her  career,  being  originally 
designed  as  a  corvette  for  the  Russian  Navy,  and 
she  had  been  built  as  far  as  the  first  futtocks  when 
the  Crimean  War  broke  out.  This  naturally  broke 
the  contract,  but,  as  she  was  as  sharp  as  a  wedge 
under  water,  she  was  finished  off  for  the  tea  trade. 


THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS  199 

In  appearance  she  was  heavier  looking  and  less 
yacht-like  than  the  graceful  Steele  creations,  being 
frigate  built,  and  she  differed  from  most  tea  clippers 
in  having  painted  ports.  Though  heavily  rigged  she 
set  nothing  above  royals. 

Her  owners,  Messrs.  Monro,  were  of  the  good  old 
type,  and  gave  their  captains  a  free  hand,  their 
usual  words  when  they  said  goodbye  at  the 
commencement  of  a  voyage  being :  "  Now,  captain, 
consider  the  ship  is  yours,  we  leave  everything  to 
your  judgment."  And  a  big  bonus  always  went  to 
a  captain  after  a  successful  voyage. 

She  was  never  raced,  as  I  have  said,  in  the  first 
flight,  but  with  a  captain  who  was  a  veteran  on  the 
coast  she  proved  a  very  profitable  ship  to  her  owners. 
The  Tea  Race  of  1861. 


Ship. 

Captain. 

From  Foochow. 

Date  of  Arrival. 

Days  Out. 

Ellen  Rodger  .     . 
Robin  Hood    .     . 
Falcon    .... 
Fiery    Cross     .     . 
Flying  Spur    .     . 

Keay 

Cobb 

Maxton 

Dallas 

Ryrie 

Jane  ii 
»     II 
>.     II 
>,     14 
,.     14 

London,   Oct,  lo 
Liverpool,    ,,    14 
London,      ,,      9 
Sept.  23 
Falmouth,  Oct.  i6 

121 

I2S 
120 
lOI 

124 

Zi3a,  Chrysolite,  Northfleet  and  Challenger,  sailing 
from  Shanghai,  all  made  passages  of  over  1 20  days. 

This  was  the  last  race  of  two  of  the  most  noted 
skippers  in  the  trade — Maxton  and  Dallas.  Dallas 
retired  on  his  laurels,  but  Maxton  left  the  sea  for 
a  partnership  in  the  firm  of  Phillips,  Shaw,  & 
Lowther,  which  was  henceforth  known  as  Shaw, 
Lowther,  &    Maxton.      The   withdrawal   of  these 


200 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 


veterans  brought  Keay  to  the  helm  of  Falcon  and 
Dick  Robinson  to  that  of  Fiery  Cross. 

At  the  same  time,  Captain  Rodger,  perceiving 
that  his  crack  Ellen  Rodger  was  being  outclassed  by 
the  new  ships,  determined  to  increase  her  sail  plan 
by  putting  her  main  yards  to  the  fore,  and  giving  her 
new  main  yards  6  feet  longer. 

This  gave  her  two  widths  more  canvas  on  the 
fore  and  three  widths  more  canvas  on  the  main, 
with  the  result  that  her  sailing  was  very  much 
improved  in  light  winds.  And  in  1862  she  made 
the  best  time  coming  home  ot  the  whole  fleet,  which 
included  three  new  ships,  the  Min,  Whin/ell,  and 
Highflyer ;  the  latter  an  interesting  vessel  in  that  she 
was  built  at  Blackwall  by  R.  &  H.  Green,  and 
commanded  by  that  veteran,  Anthony  Enright,  who, 
after  leaving  the  Chrysolite,  had  made  himself 
world-famous  by  his  wonderful  passages  to  Melbourne 
in  the  Black  Bailer  Lightning. 

The  Tea  Race  of  1862. 


Ship. 

Captain. 

From. 

Date  Left. 

To. 

Date 
Arrived. 

Days 
Out. 

Fiery  Cross 

Robinson 

Foochow 

May  28 

London 

Sept.  27 

122 

Robin  Hood     . 

Mann 

1) 

..     29 

Oct.   13 

137 

Min  .... 

Smith 

..     31 

..        9 

131 

flying  Spur    . 

Ryrie 

,, 

June    2 

Sept.  29 

119 

Falcon    .     .     . 

Keay 

Shanghai 

..     13 

Oct.    13 

122 

Ziba.     .     .     . 

Fine 

t) 

..     IS 

Nov.  12 

150 

Whinfell    .     . 

Yeo 

Foochow 

.,     IS 

Oct.    13 

120 

Ellen  Rodger  , 

McKinnon 

)» 

..     19 

..     13 

116 

High  Flyer      . 

Enright 

Shanghai 

„     27 

Nov.    3 

129 

Challenger .     . 

Macey 

»i 

July    9 

»     14 

128 

C/iaa-sze      .     . 

Shewan 

Canton 

Aug.  15 

Dec.  15 

122 

Flying  Spur  should  have  been  first  ship  home  this 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  201 

year.  She  was  the  leading  ship  in  the  channel,  and 
when  she  was  off  Brighton,  the  wind  being  very 
light,  a  tugboat  ranged  alongside  and  asked  ;^ioo 
to  tow  the  ship  to  dock.  Captain  Ryrie  refused  and 
offered  less  money,  whereupon  the  master  of  the  tug 
hailed  to  say  that  he  would  go  and  tow  up  the 
Fiery  Cross,  which,  he  declared,  was  only  a  little 
way  astern  off  the  Isle  of  Wight.  Captain  Ryrie 
thought  this  was  only  bluff  on  the  part  of  the  tug's 
skipper  and  let  him  go.  Some  hours  later,  whilst 
the  Flying  Spur  lay  helplessly  becalmed.  Captain 
Ryrie  had  the  mortification  of  seeing  the  same  tug- 
boat steam  by  with  FieYy  Cross  at  the  end  of  her 
tow  rope.  Thus  Fiery  Cross  got  first  into  dock, 
gained  the  premium  on  the  freight.  Captain  Robinson 
a  gratuity  of  ;i^300,  and  her  officers  and  crew  an 
extra  month's  pay. 

There  was  an  interesting  incident  in  this  year's 
race,  which  caused  more  than  a  little  surprise  in 
shipping  circles — this  was  the  beating  given  to  some 
of  the  cracks  of  the  China  fleet  by  Money  Wigram's 
grand  little  Blackwall  frigate  Kent. 

Four  of  the  clippers  found  themselves  becalmed 
within  a  mile  or  two  of  each  other  when  one  degree 
north  of  the  line  in  the  Adantic,  two  of  them,  the 
Robin  Hood  and  Falcon,  being  bound  for  London, 
and  the  other  two,  the  Colleen  Rodger  and  Queens- 
borough,  for  Liverpool. 

There  was  not  sufficient  wind  to  give  steerage 


202  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

way  and  the  ships  lay  with  their  heads  pointing  all 
round  the  compass.  In  the  midst  of  this  becalmed 
tea  fleet,  and  close  to  the  Falcon  and  Robin  Hood 
lay  the  Blackwaller  Kent,  homeward  bound  from  the 
Colonies  with  passengers. 

Signals  were  exchanged  between  the  five  ships, 
and  the  commander  of  the  barque  Robin  Hood 
asked  Captain  Clayton  of  the  Kent,  which  ship 
happened  to  be  nearest  to  him,  to  try  and  keep  him 
company  as  his  vessel  had  damaged  her  rudder-head. 
Captain  Clayton  at  once  promised  to  do  his  best. 

An  hour  later,  being  about  lo  a.m.,  a  light  north- 
east trade  sprang  up  and  all  the  ships  stood  away 
with  every  rag  hung  out  that  would  draw,  including 
foretopmast  stunsails  and  all  staysails. 

The  Kent,  though  she  was  only  an  1 1  -knot  ship, 
was  a  marvel  in  light  winds  and  the  merest  zephyr 
gave  her  steerage  way.  The  Falcon,  on  the  other 
hand,  had  the  misfortune  to  be  suffering  from  ragged 
copper  and  the  Blackwaller  actually  left  her  \  knot 
an  hour  in  the  light  breeze  ;  at  the  same  time  the 
Kent  easily  held  her  place  abeam  of  the  Robin  Hood. 

Meanwhile  the  Ellen  Rodger,  with  her  new  sail 
plan,  appeared  over  the  horizon  astern,  and,  rapidly 
overhauling  the  whole  fleet,  passed  them  and  was 
soon  out  of  sight  ahead. 

For  two  days  the  trade  remained  light  and  steady 
and  all  that  time  the  Kent  and  Robin  Hood  ran 
beam  and  beam,  whilst  the  Falcon  with  her  ragged 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  203 

copper,  continued  to  drop  astern  to  Captain  Keay's 
chagrin.  All  this  time  the  trade  had  held  well  to 
the  eastward,  but  at  the  end  of  48  hours,  it  began  to 
freshen  and  back  into  its  true  quarter  of  N.E. 

All  stunsail  booms  were  now  sent  down  and 
preparations  made  for  a  hard  thrash  to  windward. 

This  was  the  Falcons  best  point  and  she  soon 
began  to  make  up  her  leeway.  The  Kent,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  handicapped,  as  she  lay  over  on 
being  braced  sharp  up,  by  her  big  channels  trailing 
in  the  water,  and  the  smooth-sided  Robin  Hood 
found  no  difficulty  in  running  away  from  her. 

However,  Captain  Clayton  had  had  his  ambition 
fired  by  the  fine  performance  of  his  vessel  during 
the  previous  two  days,  and  he  determined  to  strain 
every  nerve  in  an  attempt  to  beat  the  clippers  home. 
For  the  rest  of  the  passage  he  scarcely  left  the  deck, 
pressing  the  little  Kent  as  she  had  never  been  pressed 
before.  But  he  saw  no  more  of  the  tea  ships,  and,  at 
length,  after  a  good  run,  found  himself  in  the  channel. 
When  off  the  Eddystone  Light,  he  hove-to  in  order 
to  report  himself  and  signalled  for  a  Plymouth  pilot. 

No  sooner  was  the  pilot  aboard  than  he  asked 
him  to  take  his  report  ashore  without  delay,  at  the 
same  time  giving  him  a  printed  form  on  which  the 
names  of  the  ships  spoken  on  the  passage  were 
entered.  With  the  usual  present  of  rum  and  tobacco, 
the  pilot  bundled  overboard  again,  whilst  the  Kent, 
swinging  -her  mainyard,  rushed  off  up  channel  before 
a  fair  wind  with  stunsails  set  alow  and  aloft. 


204  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Next  morning  found  the  Blackwaller  off  Dunge- 
ness,  and  great  was  the  excitement  on  board  when 
two  clouds  of  canvas  were  sighted  astern,  for  it  had 
been  ascertained  from  the  pilot  that  none  of  the 
ships  reported  by  the  Kent  had  arrived.  It  only- 
needed  a  glance  to  tell  Captain  Clayton  to  whom 
those  leaning  pyramids  of  canvas  astern  belonged. 
"  Here  come  the  tea  dippers,"  he  cried  to  his  chief 
officer.     "  Signal  for  a  steamer  at  once." 

The  Kent  was  5  miles  off  the  Ness  when  a  tug 
appeared,  to  be  greeted  by  cheers  from  the  excited 
passengers  and  crew  of  the  Blackwall  frigate.  The 
wind  was  dead  aft,  and  the  China  ships  only  4  or  5 
miles  astern.  Clayton  had  his  stunsails  in  in  five 
minutes,  and  the  tow  boat  hustled  her  line  aboard 
as  quickly  as  possible.  And  hardly  was  the  Kent 
fast  behind  her  tug  before  the  clippers,  which  proved 
to  be  the  Falcon  and  Robin  Hood,  began  to  take  in 
their  kites  and  signal  for  steam.  Thereupon,  not 
being  content  with  one  tug,  Clayton  signalled  for 
another,  and  was  soon  being  swept  up  channel  with 
a  tow  rope  over  each  bow,  but  the  tea  ships  were 
close  on  his  heels.  In  the  end  the  Kent  just 
managed  to  beat  the  Robin  Hood  into  the  East 
India  Dock  by  half  an  hour,  the  Falcon  being  close 
behind  the  Robin  Hood. 

The  three  vessels  had  parted  company  27  days 
before,  and  the  Kent's  feat  in  beating  the  two  flyers 
in  the  run  home  from  the  line  became  the  talk  of 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS 


205 


the  city,  whilst  young  Clayton  found  himself  famous 
in  shipping  circles.  He  even  had  the  honour  of 
being  introduced  by  old  Money  Wigram  to  the 
great  Duncan  Dunbar,  who  looked  him  up  and 
down  with  astonishment,  for  he  was  very  young  to 
be  captain  of  a  crack  London  passenger  ship.  * 

The  Tea  Race  of  1863. 


Ship. 

Captain. 

From. 

Date  Lett. 

To. 

Date 
Arrived. 

Days 
Out. 

Fiery  Cross 

Robinson 

Foochow 

May  27 

London 

Sept.  8 

104 

Falcon    .     .     . 

Keay 

»» 

II     27 

II 

Oct.     S 

130 

Mm  .... 

Smith 

II 

II     28 

II 

.1       S 

129 

Flying  Spur     . 

Ryrie 

II 

June    I 

II 

II        S 

126 

Ellen  Roger     . 

McKinnon 

II 

.1       3 

)i 

II      5 

124 

Robin  Hood     . 

Mann 

II 

i>       4 

II 

i>      5 

123 

Ziba.     .     .     . 

Jones 

II 

II      5 

Liverpool 

Sept.  19 

106 

Highflyer   .     . 

Enright 

11 

„      8 

London 

Oct.  20 

134 

Challenger .     . 

Macey 

Hankow 

11     14 

II 

II     20 

128 

Coulnaiyle .     . 

Morrison 

Shanghai 

II     20 

II 

II     29 

131 

Silver  Eagle    . 

— 

II 

•  I    22 

II 

■  1     30 

130 

Guinevere  .     . 

M'Lean 

II 

„    27 

II 

,1     28 

123 

Chrysolite   .     . 

Varian 

Hong  Kong 

July  IS 

II 

Nov.  14 

122 

White  Adder  . 

Bowers 

Shanghai 

II    17 

11 

..       7 

"3 

Friar  Tuck      . 

— 

II 

1.   23 

Scilly 

II     27 

127 

CUpper  SUps  Launched  1861^1862. 

Meanwhile  several  new  tea  ships  had  been 
launched.  None  of  them,  however,  were  as  fast  as 
either  Fiery  Cross  or  Flying  Spur.  The  sister-ships 
Min  and  Guinevere  were  perhaps  the  pick  of  the 
bunch,  though  they  did  not  satisfy  the  ambitions 
of  either  their  owners  or  their  builder,  Robert 
Steele.  They  were  not  fine  enough  in  the  buttocks, 
and  when  at  full  speed  heaped  up  a  wave  under  the 
lee  buttock  which  detracted  from  their  pace. 

Nevertheless  Min  was  the  first  ship  home  from 
Shanghai  in  1866  and  Guinevere  distinguished  her- 


206  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

self  by  beating  Eliza  Shaw  from  Shanghai  in  1 864 
in  a  dual  race  for  large  stakes.  But  these  two  ships 
undoubtedly  taught  the  SteeleS  a  great  deal,  for  they 
were  followed  by  the  Greenock  firm's  masterpieces 
S erica,  Taeping,  Ariel  and  Sir  Lancelot. 

Green's  Highflyer  was  not  a  success  as  a  tea 
clipper.  In  fact  she  differed  very  little  from  the 
Blackwall  frigates  of  the  time.  Her  stern  was 
heavy,  her  foremast  too  much  in  the  bows,  and 
owing  to  her  want  of  length  her  main  and  mizen 
masts  were  much  too  close  together. 

The  Blackwall  firm  had  another  try  with  Childers, 
but  here  they  were  again  unlucky  as  she  was 
wrecked  in  the  Min  River  on  her  second  voyage. 

"Serica"  and  "Taeping." 

In  1863  Messrs.  Steele  launched  two  of  the 
most  celebrated  ships  in  the  tea  trade,  the  Serica 
on  the  4th  August  and  Taeping  on  the  24th 
December.  Registering  59  tons  more  than  Serica, 
Taeping  was  2  feet  shorter  but  3  feet  deeper,  and,  in 
point  of  speed  she  was  perhaps  a  trifle  faster  all  round. 
They  were  both  fine  handy  sea-boats,  very  fast  in 
light  airs,  and,  as  usual  with  Steele's  creations,  very 
sightly  ships.  Owned  by  such  keen  racing  men  as 
Findlay  and  Rodger,  and  well  skippered,  they  were 
both  raced  for  all  they  were  worth. 

"Black  Prince"  and  "Belted  Will." 

Of    the   other    clippers    launched    in    1863, 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  207 

Black  Prince  and  Belted  Will  were  undoubtedly  the 
fastest,  but  they  were  neither  of  them  ever  driven, 
Black  Prince,  especially,  being  handicapped  by  a 
very  careful  captain,  who  should  never  have  had 
command  of  a  tea  clipper. 

Belted  Will  made  a  very  fine  run  on  her  maiden 
passage,  but  she  never  did  anything  else  that  calls 
for  notice. 

Composite  Construction. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  1863  was  the  first  year 
of  the  composite  clippers.  Before  this  date,  several 
ships,  including  Min,  Guinevere,  Highflyer,  and 
White  Adder  had  been  built  with  iron  beams,  but 
Taking,  Black  Prince,  Eliza  Shaw,  and  Pakwan 
were  the  first  ships  engaged  in  the  tea  trade  to  be 
composite  built  as  it  is  now  understood. 

The  inventor  of  this  method  of  construction  is 
generally  supposed  to  have  been  a  certain  John 
Jordan,  whose  first  effort  was  a  schooner  called  the 
Excelsior,  launched  as  far  back  as  1850. 

Bilbe  &  Perry  of  Rotherhithe  were  amongst  the 
earliest  supporters  of  the  principle,  their  first  compo- 
site ship  being  Red  Riding  Hood  of  720  tons, 
built  in  1857. 

The  composite  construction  in  merchant  ships  was 
the  transition  stage  between  wood  and  iron.  It  only 
had  a  short  popularity  of  perhaps  a  dozen  years,  and 
that  only  amongst  clipper  ships  such  as  the  China 
clippers  and  small  Australian  wool  clippers.      It  was 


208 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

specially  suitable,  though,  for  the  tea  trade,  where 
great  strength  was  wanted,  and  in  which  iron  ships 
were  never  popular  for  two  reasons,  firstly,  that  iron 
was  considered  bad  for  the  tea,  and  secondly,  that 
they  could  never  equal  wooden  ships  in  light  winds. 
The  composite  clippers  proved  themselves  exceed- 
ingly strong  and  fully  able  to  stand  the  strain  of 
hard  driving  without  being  twisted  out  of  shape,  as 
was  the  case  with  the  American  soft-wood  clippers ; 
at  the  same  time  the  age  to  which  many  of  them 
lived  is  little  short  of  amazing.  The  system,  though 
it  had  a  short  life  amongst  merchant  ships,  still 
survives  in  the  construction  of  yachts. 

The  Tea  Race  of  1864. 


Ship. 

Captain. 

From 

Date  ot 
Departure 

Date  of  Arrival. 

Days 
Out. 

114 

Tiery  Cross .     . 

Robinson 

Foochow 

May 

29 

London,  Sept.  20 

Flying  Spur      . 

Gunn 

J, 

June 

I 

,,           Oct    13 

134 

Seriea      .     .     . 

Innes 

*f 

»> 

2 

Sept.  19 

109 

Belted  Will.     . 

Graham 

Hong  Kong 

3 

..            »     20 

109 

Young  Lochinvar 

Glass 

J, 

)» 

4 

Oct.     8 

126 

Robin  Hood .     . 

Darling 

,t 

1, 

6 

—           — 

— 

Childers  .     .     . 

Enright 

Shanghai 

»> 

9 

London,   Oct.   21 

134 

Scawfell  .     .     . 

Thompson 

Canton 

») 

7 

.,      13 

128 

Min    .... 

Smith 

Foochow 

it 

II 

,.      14 

125 

Ziba    .... 

Jones 

J, 

it 

14 

Liverpool,  „      13 

121 

Red  Riding  Hood 

— 

)> 

July 

14 

London,  Nov.  14 

123 

Eliza  Sham .     . 

— 

Shanghai 

June 

14 

„          Oct.   21 

129 

Guinevere     .     . 

M'Lean 

1, 

,, 

17 

„     20 

1 25 

Challenger  .     . 

Macey 

Hankow 

jj 

17 

,,     25 

i3«> 

Yangtze  .     .     . 

— 

Foochow 

17 

„     22 

127 

Ellen  Rodger    . 

M'Kinnon 

f» 

19 

„     21 

124 

Falcon     .     .     . 

Keay 

Hankow 

20 

.,     14 

116 

Kelso.     .     .     . 

— 

Hong  Kong 

25 

.,     24 

121 

Taeping .     .     . 

M'Kinnon 

Shanghai 

July 

I 

put  into  Amoy  dis- 
abled July  23 

}- 

Coulnakyle  .     . 

— 

»i 

I 

,  put  into  Hong  Kong 
\    disabled  July  20 

}- 

Whinfell      .     . 

— 

Foochow 

I 

London,  Nov.  15 

137 

Silver  Eagle      . 

— 

Shanghai 

8 

»      II 

126 

White  Adder    . 

Bell 

)i 

8 

..      16 

131 

Highflyer     .    . 

Smith 

i) 

II        „    •      ,',     i6 

128 

THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  209 

Of  the  two  new  cracks,  Serica  won  her  spurs  by 
beating  the  redoubtable  Fiery  Cross  and  taking  the 
premium  for  first  ship  in  dock.  Taeping,  however, 
was  unfortunate.  Being  only  launched  at  the  end  of 
1863,  she  did  not  get  out  to  China  in  time  to  load 
the  new  teas  from  Foochow,  so  she  went  up  to 
Shanghai.  On  ist  July  she  left  Shanghai  in 
company  with  Coulnakyle,  and  beating  down  the 
China  Sea  both  ships  came  to  grief,  being  so 
disabled  that  they  were  compelled  to  put  into  port. 
Taeping  went  into  Amoy,  and  Coulnakyle  into 
Hong  Kong.  After  repairs  had  been  affected, 
Taeping  left  Amoy  in  October  and  made  such  good 
use  of  the  favourable  monsoon  that  she  arrived  in 
London  early  in  January,  1865,  only  88  days  out. 

The  Tea  Race  of  1865, 


Ship. 

Captain. 

From. 

Date  Lett. 

Date  Arrived. 

Days 
Out. 

Yangtze    .     .     . 

Foochow 

May  26 

off  Plymouth,  Oct.     5 

132 

Ziba     .... 

Jones 

,, 

>,     27 

London,               „       7 

133 

Serica .... 

Innes 

„     28 

„                  Sept.  II 

106 

Fiery  Cross  ,     . 

Robinson 

,, 

„     28 

.,     II 

106 

Flying  Spur .     . 

— 

,1 

»      30 

oEF  Scilly,         Oct.     4 

127 

Belted  Will  .     . 

Graham 

Macao 

June    s 

off  Plymouth,     ,,       4 

121 

Black  Prince      . 

Inglis 

,* 

,.       5 

off  Kalmouth,     „       5 

122 

Min     .... 

Smith 

J, 

„       8 

London,             ,,       8 

122 

Young  Lochinvar 

Glass 

Foochow 

„       9 

„       7 

120 

Eliza  Shaw  .     . 

— 

Shanghai 

..     II 

off  Plymouth,     ,,       4 

"S 

Pakwan    .     .     . 

— 

Macao 

'   „     14 

off  Lizard,          „      4 

112 

Taeping    .     .     . 

M'Kinnon 

Foochow 

..       29 

in  the  Downs,    „      9 

102 

Taeping,  which  again  made  the  best  time  of  the 

year,    was   unfortunate   in   not    being   able   to   sail 

earlier,    thus    having    no    chance    of    gaining    the 

premium.     Her  late  launch  in   1863  and  her  dis- 
p 


210  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

ablement  in  1864  had  thus  kept  her  out  of  the  first 
flight  for  two  years. 

Serica  and  Fiery  Cross,  however,  ran  a  marvellous 
race.  Captains  Robinson  and  Innes  arranged  to  be 
towed  to  sea  by  the  same  tug,  and  on  being  cast  off 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Min  River  made  sail  at  one 
and  the  same  moment. 

After  being  constantly  in  company  down  the 
China  Sea,  their  times  at  Anjer  were — 

Serica         -        •  Z3rd  June,  27  days  out. 

Fiery  Cross  -  24th  June,  28  days  out. 

They  were  again  many  times  in  company  during 
the  rest  of  the  passage,  and  finally  made  their 
numbers  off  St.  Catherines  simultaneously. 

Here  luck,  which  so  often  affected  the  end  of 
these  ocean  races,  came  in.  It  was  a  Sunday,  and 
a  light  westerly  wind  was  blowing.  Off  Beachy 
Head  the  Serica  was  leading  by  two  miles,  but 
Fiery  Cross  had  the  good  fortune  to  fall  in  with  a 
tug,  and  being  taken  in  tow  reached  Gravesend  on 
the  same  tide.  No  other  tug  being  about,  Serica 
stood  out  into  mid-channel  in  order  to  get  the 
benefit  of  the  flood,  and  she  was  up  to  the  Foreland 
before  a  tug  hove  in  sight  and  gave  her  a  towrope, 
thus  she  j"ust  missed  the  tide  which  carried  Fiery 
Cross  into  the  river  and  gave  her  the  race. 

Large  sums  were  wagered  on  Serica  and  Fiery 
Cross,  and  the  result  of  the  race  caused  some 
dissatisfaction  amongst  the  backers,  many  of  whom 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  211 

contended  that  the  first  ship  to  make  her  number 
should  be  considered  the  first  ship  home. 

Of  the  Macao  ships,  Pakwan,  to  the  great  surprise 
of  her  captain,  made  the  best  passage;  but  here 
again  a  very  close  race  was  sailed  between  Belted 
Will  and  Black  Prince. 

To  show  the  inferiority  of  steamers  at  this  date, 
the  Annette  left  Macao  on  31st  May,  and  did  not 
reach  the  Downs  until  13th  October,  135  days  out, 
thus  making  a  worse  passage  than  the  slowest 
of  the  clippers. 

The  "Ariel." 

In  1865  Robert  Steele  built  two  of  the  most 
beautiful  little  ships  that  ever  left  the  ways.  These 
were  the  Ariel  for  Shaw,  Maxton  &  Co.,  and  the 
Sir  Lancelot  for  MacCunn. 

The  Ariel  was  launched  on  the  29th  June.  Her 
dimensions  by  builder's  measurement  were — 


Length  of  keel  and  fore-rake 

195  feet 

Breadth  of  beam 

33 '9  feet 

Depth  of  hold 

21  feet 

Tonnage 

1058^  tons. 

She  was  launched  with  100  tons  of  fixed  iron 
ballast  moulded  into  the  limbers  between  the  ceiling 
and  the  outer  skin,  laid  along  the  keelson  and 
tapering  towards  the  bow  and  stern.  In  addition  to 
this,  20  tons  of  movable  pig  iron  ballast  was  also  on 
board.     This  gave  her  a  mean  draft  of  10  feet. 

When  loaded  with  tea  she  also  required  about 
200  tons   of  washed   shingle.      So   sensitive   were 


212  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

these  yacht-like  tea  clippers  that  their  proper 
ballasting  was  one  of  the  most  important  con- 
siderations with  their  captains,  and  had  not  a  little 
to  do  with  their  success. 

During  the  three  voyages  that  Captain  Keay  had 
Ariel,  he  gradually  lessened  the  tea  ballast  and 
trimmed  her  more  by  the  stern. 

On  her  first  voyage  she  had  340  tons  with  mean  draft  of  13  ft.  6    ins. 
On  her  second       ,,        ,,        324       ,,  „  ,,        13  ft.  4i  ins. 

On  her  third  „         „        310       „  „  „       13  ft.  3    ins. 

Her  best  trim  was  as  much  as  5  inches  by  the  stern. 

No  one  could  be  more  qualified  to  give  an 
account  of  Ariel  than  Captain  Keay,  who  com- 
manded her  through  her  victorious  career.  I 
therefore  have  no  hesitation  in  quoting  his  letter  to 
me,  in  which  he  speaks  of  her  with  the  true  love 
of  a  sailor  for  his  ship — 

"Ariel  was  a  perfect  beauty  to  every  nautical 
man  who  saw  her ;  in  symmetrical  grace  and 
proportion  of  hull,  spars,  sails,  rigging  and  finish, 
she  satisfied  the  eye  and  put  all  in  love  with  her 
without  exception.  The  curve  of  stem,  figurehead 
and  entrance,  the  easy -sheer  and  graceful  lines  of 
the  hull  seemed  grown  and  finished  as  life  takes 
shape  and  beauty ;  the  proportion  and  stand  of  her 
masts  and  yards  were  all  perfect.  On  deck  there 
was  the  same  complete  good  taste ;  roomy  flush 
decks  with  pure  white  bulwark  panels,  delicately 
bordered  with  green  and  minutely  touched  in  the 
centre  with  azure  and  vermilion.     She  had  no  top- 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  213 

gallant  bulwarks  (her  main  rail  was  only  3  feet  high) 
but  stanchions  of  polished  teak,  protected  by  brass 
tubing  let  in  flush. 

"It  was  a  pleasure  to  coach  her.  Very  light  airs 
gave  her  headway  and  I  could  trust  her  like  a  thing 
alive  in  all  evolutions;  in  fact,  she  could  do  anything 
short  of  speaking. 

"Ariel  often  went  11  and  12  knots  sharp  on  a 
bowline,  and  in  fair  winds  14,  15  and  16  knots  for 
hours  together.  The  best  day's  work  in  south 
latitude,  running  east,  was  340  nautical  miles  by 
observation,  and  that  was  done  carrying  all  plain 
sail  except  mizen  royal,  the  wind  being  three  or  four 
points  on  the  quarter. 

"  We  could  tack  or  wear  with  the  watch,  but  never 
hesitated  to  call  all  hands,  night  or  day,  tacking, 
reefing,  etc.,  in-strong  winds." 

With  regard  to  sail  plan,  Ariel  was  not  over- 
hatted,  yet  carried  a  sufficient  cloud  of  canvas  to 
make  her  a  ticklish  boat  to  handle  when  being 
heavily  pressed,  and  Captain  Keay  states  that  she 
always  required  careful  watching. 

Her  actual  sail  area  was  about  the  same  as  Sir 
Lancelot's.  She  had  very  long  lower  masts  and  her 
courses  were  very  deep,  her  main  tack  coming  right 
down  to  the  deck.  These  big  courses  gave  her  a 
good  pull  in  light  and  moderate  winds.  Like  all 
sharp  ships,  she  was  very  wet  in  bad  weather ; 
indeed,  her  petty  officers  could  not  show  themselves 


214  THE    CHINA    CUPPERS 

outside  the  midship-house  without  getting  drenched 
in  anything  of  a  blow,  and  they  were  little  better  off 
than  water  rats  when  running  the  easting  down. 
Her  chief  spar  measurements  were — 

Mainmast — deck  to  lower  masthead  62  feet 

Mainmast — deck  to  truck  138    ,, 

Mainyard — boom  iron  to  boom  iron  -  7°    i> 

Spanker  boom  -  -  5°    >> 

Knightheads  to  flying  jibboom  end  -  67    ,, 

The  "Sir  Lancelot." 

Sir  Lancelot  was  launched  on  27th  July, 
1865,  just  a  month  after  Ariel.  Mr.  MacCunn's 
first  wish  had  been  to  build  her  10  feet  longer,  but 
this  idea  was  given  up  and  her  builder's  measure- 
ments worked  out  the  same  as  those  of  Ariel, 
though  her  net  register  made  her  34  tons  larger  and 
her  registered  dimensions  also  differed  slightly. 

Like  Ariel  she  was  of  composite  construction 
with  teak  planking  to  bilge  and  elm  bottom.  Her 
ballasting  also  was  exactly  the  same  as  Ariel's. 
She  delivered  1430  tons  of  tea  on  a  mean  draft 
of  18  feet  8  inches. 

No  expense,  of  course,  was  spared  in  her  outfit. 
In  those  days  a  crack  clipper  or  packet  was  as 
smartly  kept  up  as  a  modern  yacht,  and  as  artistic 
beauty  was  thought  more  of  than  it  is  now,  such 
vessels  as  Ariel  and  Sir  Lancelot  were  perhaps  the 
most  beautiful  fabrics  ever  created  to  please  the 
nautical  eye  of  man.  A  knight  in  mail  armour  with 
plumed  helmet,  his  vizor  open  and  his  right  hand  in 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  2  IS 

the  act  of  drawing  his  sword,  formed  Sir  Lancelot's 
figurehead. 

With  regard  to  the  name,  Mr.  MacCunn  had 
an  interesting  correspondence  with  Tennyson,  as 
to  whether  it  should  be  spelt  "  Launcelot "  or 
"  Lancelot."  Tennyson  wrote  that  it  should  be 
"  Lancelot."  I  mention  this  as  I  notice  that  the 
name  is  so  often  spelt  wrongly,  an  instance  of  which 
is  to  be  found  in  Captain  Clarke's  Clipper  Ship  Era. 

Another  mistake  which  I  should  like  to  correct 
is  the  45,000  square  feet  of  canvas,  credited  to  Sir 
Lancelot  by  Lindsay  in  his  Merchant  Shipping, 
which  has  been  followed  by  several  other  writers. 

Mr.  James  MacCunn  has  kindly  supplied  me  with 
Sir  Lancelot's  sail  plan  in  detail,  which  will  be  found 
in  the  appendix.  This  shows  that  Sir  Lancelot's 
net  sail  spread  worked  out  at  32,81 1  square  feet,  not 
over  40,000  as  has  been  stated.  This  table,  how- 
ever, takes  no  account  of  such  flying  kites  as  the 
Jamie  Green,  ringtail,  watersails,  bonnets  and  wings 
to  lower  stunsails,  which  were  always  made  by  the 
sailmaker  on  board  according  to  the  directions 
given  him  by  the  captain.  When  all  these  auxil- 
iaries were  set  there  was  an  addition  of  from  2000  to 
2500  square  feet  of  canvas  to  the  full  working  suit 
of  the  ship. 

"Sir  Lancelot's"  Unfortunate  Maiden  Voyage. 

Things    rarely    go    absolutely    right    on    a 
vessel's  maiden  voyage,  and  thus  it  is  very  necessary 


216  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

to  place  a  new  ship  under  the  command  of  an 
experienced  captain.  In  this  respect  Ariel  was 
lucky  in  having  Captain  John  Keay  who,  after 
putting  the  various  small  mistakes  of  riggers  and 
builders  right,  learnt  to  know  his  ship  thoroughly 
and  had  her  tuned  up  to  the  nines  by  the  time  she 
reached  Foochow  to  load  the  new  teas. 

But  that  the  voyage  until  then  had  not  been 
without  the  usual  maiden  passage  incidents,  Ariel's 
abstract  logs  showed  only  too  clearly. 

It  was  not,  however,  until  her  second  voyage  that 
Sir  Lancelot  had  a  chance  to  show  what  she  could  do. 

Mr.  MacCunn  was  unfortunate  in  being  unable  to 
obtain  a  good  skipper  for  her  at  the  start,  and  whilst 
^rzV/ under  Captain  Keay  made  her  reputation  on 
her  first  voyage,  Sir  Lancelot,  was  handicapped  out 
of  the  running  by  a  bad  jockey.  Mr.  MacCunn  lost 
the  skipper  whom  he  had  in  his  mind  owing  to  a 
slight  delay  in  the  completion  of  Sir  Lancelot,  the 
man  being  snapped  up  by  another  firm.  So  a 
captain  named  Macdougall  with  good  credentials 
was  given  the  command. 

This  man  soon  showed  that  he  was  totally  unfit 
to  command  such  a  thoroughbred  of  the  seas  as  a 
China  clipper,  and,  possessed  of  neither  nerve  nor 
go,  he  blundered  through  the  entire  voyage. 

After  a  protracted  intermediate  passage  to 
Bangkok  and  back  to  Hong  Kong  with  rice,  the  Sir 
Lancelot  reached  Hankow  and  was  lucky  enough  to 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  217 

be  loaded  by  Jardine,  Matheson  &  Co.,  at  £•]  per  ton. 
But  at  Hankow  a  collision,  which  damaged  her  main 
rigging  and  head  gear  and  lost  her  anchors  and  cables, 
destroyed  the  last  remnants  of  her  captain's  nerve. 

Instead  of  bravely  facing  the  intricate  navigation 
of  the  China  Seas  and  taking  the  Anjer  route 
home  according  to  Mr.  MacCunn's  instructions, 
Macdougall  chose  the  Eastern  Passage  via  Ombai. 
After  wandering  aimlessly  along  in  continual  calms, 
he  took  42  days  to  clear  Sandalwood  Island.  And 
even  in  this  drifting  performance  he  managed  to 
show  his  incompetence  by  carrying  away  the  slings 
of  his  mainyard.  Yet  no  log  book  ever  contained 
so  many  references  to  shortening  sail,  "in  top- 
gallant sails,"  etc.,  appearing  whenever  there  was  a 
good  breeze  and  a  chance  to  get  ahead. 

Captain  M'Lean  of  the  Guinevere,  which  had 
been  wrecked  in  the  Yangtse,  had  a  passage  home 
on  the  Sir  Lancelot,  and  whether  these  two  in- 
competents liquored  up  too  much  or  not,  they 
managed  to  make  a  complete  hash  of  the  passage, 
with  the  result  that  the  gallant  clipper  took  122 
days  to  struggle  home. 

It  was  thus  that  the  Sir  Lancelot  missed  the  great 
tea  race  of  1866,  in  which  her  sister  ship  Ariel 
performed  so  brilliantly. 

The  Great  Tea  Race  of  1868. 

It  is  probable  that  no  race  ever  sailed  on 
blue  water  created  so  much  excitement  as  the  great 


218  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

tea  race  of  1866.  For  some  years  past  the 
public  interest  had  been  growing,  until  it  had  now 
come  to  pass  that  even  those  who  dwelt  in  sleepy 
inland  villages  looked  eagerly  down  the  shipping 
columns  of  the  morning  papers  for  news  of 
the  racing  clippers.  And  if  this  interest  was  shown 
by  landsmen  who  had  no  connection  with  either  the 
ships  or  the  trade,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  great 
shipping  community  of  Great  Britain  looked  upon 
the  tea  races  much  as  the  British  public  look  upon 
the  Derby  or  the  Boat  Race. 

Every  man  with  a  nautical  cut  to  his  jib  had  a  bet 
upon  the  result,  whilst  the  rival  owners,  agents 
and  shippers  wagered  huge  sums.  Nor  were  the 
captains  and  crews  of  the  vessels  themselves 
backward  in  this  respect.  I  have  already  re- 
lated how  the  crews  of  those  old  antagonists 
Fiery  Cross  and  Serica  wagered  a  month's  pay 
against   each    other.  lAs    for   the  captains,    it   had 

— . — I.  ,  , I \ 

come  to  be  almost  a  form  of  etiquette  on  the 
China  Coast  for  a  captain  to  back  his  own  ship. 
I  shall  not  forget  the  scorn  in  the  voice  of 
one  of  these  old  tea  clipper  captains,  when,  in 
describing  a  race  to  me,  he  remarked  that  he 
could  not  get  his  opponent  to  wager  even  the 
customary  beaver  hat.  One  other  captain  I  know 
of  who  steadily  refused  to  bet  and  that  was  the 
famous  Anthony  Enright,  when  in  command  of 
Chrysolite.     He  refused  from  religious  scruples. 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  219 

In  1866  freights  were  up  to  £']  a  ton  for  the  first 
six  or  eight  ships  loading  at  Foochow,  and  the 
beginning  of  May  found  sixteen  of  the  best  known 
and  finest  clippers  assembled  at  the  Pagoda 
Anchorage,  waiting  for  the  first  season's  tea  to 
come  down  the  river. 

Amongst  these  were  the  Ariel,  Fiery  Cross, 
Serica,  Taeping,  Falcon,  Flying  Spur,  Black  Prince, 
Chinaman,  Ada,  Coulnakyle,  and  Taitsing,  Findlay's 
new  crack,  whose  chances  were  fancied  by  many  a 
shrewd  judge. 

The  beautiful  Ariel  lay  below  the  rest  of  the  fleet, 
close  to  the  Pagoda  Rock.  Though  no  betting 
prices  were  published  and  no  brazen-tongued  bookies 
were  present  to  cry  the  odds,  she  was  recognised  as 
the  favourite,  and,  as  such,  favoured  by  the  shippers. 
As  a  rule  in  the  tea  races,  the  first  ship  to  finish 
loading  was  that  which  the  shippers  believed  to  be 
the  fastest. 

Occasionally  they  were  mistaken,  as  in  the  case 
oi  Maitland,  which  they  made  favourite  in  the  1867 
race;  occasionally  also,  one  of  the  cracks  arrived  too 
late  to  get  away  amongst  the  first  ships. 

On  24th  May  the  first  lighters  of  new  tea  came 
down  the  river  and  Ariel  stowed  her  flooring  chop 
of  391  chests  and  220  half-chests.  On  Sunday,  the 
27th  May,  she  had  sixteen  lighters  alongside,  and 
Chinese  coolies  worked  day  and  night  getting  it 
aboard,  until  at  2  p.m.  on  Monday,  28th  May,  the 


220  THE    CHINA    CUPPERS 

last    chest    was    handed,     1,230,900    lbs.    of    tea 
being  on  board. 

The  cargoes  of  the  other  fancied  ships  were — 


Fiery  Cross 

854,236  lbs. 

Taeping 

1,108,700    „ 

Serica 

954,236    „ 

Taitsing 

-       1,093.130    .. 

Ariel  was  the  first  ship  ready.  At  5  p.m.  on  the 
28th  she  unmoored  and,  with  the  tug-boat  Island 
Queen  alongside,  dropped  well  below  the  shipping 
and  anchored  for  the  night.  The  next  ship  to 
unmoor  was  the  Fiery  Cross,  twelve  hours  later,  and 
she  in  turn  was  followed  by  the  Taeping  and  Serica, 
which  finished  loading  and  got  away  together,  then 
came  Taitsing,  a  day  behind.  But,  as  was  proved 
in  this  instance,  the  first  vessel  to  finish  loading  was 
not  always  the  first  vessel  to  clear  the  river. 

At  5  a.m.  on  Tuesday,  29th  May,  the  Ariel  hove 
up  and  proceeded  down  the  river  with  the  tug 
towing  alongside.  At  8.30  when  nearing  Sharp 
Rock,  she  discharged  her  Chinese  river  pilot  and 
the  tug  was  sent  ahead  to  tow. 

The  scenery  of  the  Min  River  is  magnificent ;  on 
each  side  hill  rises  above  hill,  here  cultivated  to  the 
summits  by  means  of  terraces,  there  so  steep  as  to 
only  admit  of  stunted  fir.  Along  the  banks  quaint 
Chinese  villages,  forts  and  joss  houses  are  scattered, 
whilst  on  the  surface  of  the  water  wood-laden  junks 
and  all  kinds  of  river  craft  are  plentiful.  But  like 
most  beautiful  rivers,   the   Min  is  a   swift-running 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  221 

one,  the  tide  becoming  a  regular  sluice  wherever  the 
channel  narrows,  and  in  those  days  tug  boats  on  the 
China  Coast  were  far  from  being  what  they  are 
now.  Thus  it  came  about  that  no  sooner  was  the 
Island  Queen  ahead  than  she  began  to  sheer  about 
so  wildly  in  the  "  chow-chow  "  water  as  to  be  quite 
unmanageable,  and  the  Ariel  v^^s  compelled  to  let 
go  her  anchor  in  a  hurry  in  order  to  prevent  a 
disaster.  Once  more  an  attempt  was  made  with  the 
tug  lashed  alongside.  Going  outside  the  wreck  of 
the  Childers,  every  ounce  of  steam  was  put  on  in  a 
vain  attempt  to  save  the  tide.  But  again  the  tug 
made  a  mess  of  it  and  there  was  enough  top  on  the 
water  to  cause  considerable  damage  not  only  to  the 
Island  Queens  sponsons,  but  to  the  Ariel s  glossy 
black  side  through  the  grinding  of  the  two  vessels 
together.  Captain  Keay  wanted  to  try  the  tug 
ahead  again,  but  it  was  now  dead  low  tide  and  the 
pilot  refused  to  go  on  until  there  was  more  water,  so 
there  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  anchor. 

Captain  Keay's  mortification  at  this  unfortunate 
start  was  further  increased  by  the  sight  of  Fiery 
Cross  coming  down  with  a  good  tug  ahead.  The 
Ariel  was  drawing  i8  ft.  ^\  ins.  on  a  mean  draft, 
but  the  Fiery  Cross  drew  considerably  less  and 
thus  was  able  to  proceed  to  sea  without  delay  and 
went  by  with  three  mocking  cheers  of  farewell. 

That  night  Ariel  was  again  delayed  by  the  fates, 
for   though    there   was    enough   water    for   her    to 


222  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

proceed  by  8.30  p.m.,  the  weather  was  so  thick  and 
showery  that  the  pilot  refused  to  venture.      How- 
ever, there  was  a  full  night's  work  aboard,  as  the 
Ariel  was  badly  out  of  trim,  being  no  less  than  5 
inches  by  the  head ;  this  no  doubt,  had  not  made 
the    tug's    difficulties    any  easier.       Everything    of 
weight,    including    cables,   hawsers,   salt    provisions 
and  fore-peak  stores,  was  cleared  out  from  forward 
and  brought  aft  of  the  mizen  mast,  in  addition  to 
which  the  captain's  cabin  was  filled  with  tea.     This, 
however,    did    not    entail    much    hardship    on    the 
Ariel's  commander,  for  he  was  rarely  off  the  deck. 
At  9  a.m.  on  the  30th  Ariel  once  more  got  under 
weigh,  the  tug  going  ahead  with   a   hawser  from 
each  quarter.     But  the  delay  had  given  Fiery  Cross 
a  lead  of  14  hours,  and  also  brought  up  the  Taeping 
and  Serica,  which  were  only  a  few  minutes  behind 
Ariel  in  crossing  the  bar.     By  10.30  a.m.  all  three 
ships,  Ariel,   Taeping  and  Serica  were  outside  the 
Outer    Knoll  and  hove-to  in  order  to    drop   their 
pilots.       Once    more   the   luck  was   against  Ariel. 
The  wretched  Island  Queen,  in  lowering  her  boat  to 
fetch  off  the  pilot,  capsized  her  and  was  so  long  in 
saving  her  boat's  crew,  who  were  struggling  in  the 
water,  that  the  Ariel  had  at  last  to  signal  for  a  pilot 
boat  to  come  and  take  off  her  pilot. 

At  last,  at  1 1. 10  a.m..  Captain  Keay  filled  his 
mainyard  and  stood  away  S.  by  E.  |-  E.  for 
Turnabout   Island.      There  was  a  moderate  N.E. 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  223 

wind.  All  three  ships  set  main  skysails  and  fore 
topmast  and  lower  stunsails.  It  was  as  level  a  start 
as  could  be  wished  for  three  favourites.  For  a  time 
the  vessels  kept  close  to  each  other,  the  Ariel 
slowly  gaining  on  both  Taeping  and  Serica.  But 
the  weather  was  thick  and  rainy  and  before  nightfall 
the  three  racers  had  lost  sight  of  each  other. 

It  is  now  time  to  mention  the  other  competitors  ; 
Taitsing,  the  next  away,  left  the  river  at  midnight 
on  the  31st  May,  then  came  Black  Prince  on  the 
3rd  June,  followed  by  Chinaman  and  Flying  Spur 
on  the  5th,  and  Ada  on  the  6th,  and  at  still  later 
dates  came  the  rest  of  the  fleet  including  Falcon, 
Coulnakyle,  Yangtze,  Belted  Will,  Pakwan,  White 
Adder  and  Golden  Spur.  The  race  to  be  first  home, 
however,  was  confined  to  the  first  five  starters, 
as  none  of  the  later  ships  had  a  chance  of 
outstripping  them. 

Captain  Robinson  with  his  six-year-old  veteran. 
Fiery  Cross,  led  the  way  to  Anjer,  following  the 
usual  route  down  the  China  Seas,  through  the 
Formosa  Channel  to  the  Paracels,  after  which,  with 
the  fickle  S.W.  monsoon  of  June,  it  was  a  case  ol 
courting  the  land  and  sea  breezes  down  the  Cochin 
China  Coast,  then  crossing  to  the  Borneo  Coast 
and  repeating  the  operation.  Knowing  captains 
showed  great  skill  in  tacking  in  and  out,  so  timing 
it  that  they  were  well  under  the  land  about  the  hour 
that  the  land  breeze  was  due  to  spring  up,  which 


224  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

was  often  not  until  the  middle  of  the  night.  The 
ships  usually  went  through  the  Api  Passage  and 
then  south  to  Anjer  by  the  Gaspar  Strait. 

This  first  part  of  the  race  was  the  most  trying 
part.  Every  advantage  had  to  be  taken  of  the 
faintest  ripple  on  the  water.  In  the  S.W.  monsoon 
there  was  no  settled  weather,  the  wind  now  came 
with  a  rush,  now  died  away  to  nothing,  and  it 
would  chop  about  in  squalls  so  quickly  that  it  was 
almost  an  impossibility  to  avoid  getting  caught 
aback,  and  woe  betide  the  vessel  caught  aback  with 
flying  kites  aloft.  This  was  the  most  fruitful  source 
of  losing  spars  and  sails  in  all  the  varied  weather  of 
the  long  passage. 

It  would  be  baking  hot  with  a  scorching  calm  and 
glaring  sun  one  moment,  and  the  next  a  squall 
would  sweep  up  out  of  nowhere,  accompanied  by  a 
cascade  of  rain — the  wind  would  come  with  th« 
strength  of  half  a  gale  in  one  squall  and  in  the  next 
perhaps  there  would  be  no  wind  at  all  but  only  a 
blinding  sluice  of  rain.  The  navigation  too  was 
tricky  and  strewn  with  faultily  charted  reefs  ;  rocks 
blocked  the  fairway  of  narrow  channels,  whilst  the 
currents  generally  behaved  contrary  to  the  sailing  in- 
structions, or  appeared  where  none  had  been  before. 

Under  such  conditions  it  is  not  surprising  that 
the  captains  rarely  left  their  quarter-decks  for  more 
than  a  few  minutes  at  a  time  until  Anjer  was  passed. 

Fiery  Cross  had  fair  N.E.  winds  to  19°  20'  N. ;  • 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  225 

but  here  a  few  hours'  calm  and  southerly  airs 
allowed  Ariel  and  Tmeping  to  close  up  on  her. 
Then  the  N.E.  wind  came  away  again  and  carried 
her  safely  past  the  Paracels.  Ariel  had  N.E. 
winds  to  i7"5i'N.,  then  in  her  turn  had  to  fight  with 
light  airs  and  calms. 

She  passed  the  Paracels  on  the  same  day  as 
Fiery  Cross,  3rd  June,  the  North  Shoal  bearing 
south  8  miles  at  i  p.m.  Taeping  also  passed  them 
on  that  day,  but  Serica  had  dropped  back  and  was 
about  a  day  behind. 

Though  the  three  leaders  were  so  close  together 
on  the  3rd,  they  did  not  sight  each  other,  but 
Taeping  and  Ariel  had  been  in  company  on  the 
previous  day.  After  the  Paracels  they  had  to 
contend  with  the  bothersome  S.W.  monsoon. 

On  8th  June  Taeping  and  Fiery  Cross  passed 
each  other  on  opposite  tacks,  and  on  the  following 
day  in  7°  N.,  1 10°  E.,  Taeping  and  Ariel  exchanged 
signals,  Taeping  being  3  miles  to  leeward  at  5  p.m. 
Both  ships  held  on  the  same  tack  through  the  night, 
and  when  morning  broke  Ariel  had  the  satisfaction 
of  seeing  that  she  had  weathered  on  her  rival  a 
little,  Taeping  being  4  miles  on  her  lee  quarter. 

After  this  the  ships  did  not  meet  again  before 
Anjer,  which  was  passed  in  the  following  order : — 

1.  Fiery  Crest  on  June  18  at     noon  -        21  days  out. 

2.  Ariel  „       20  ,,     7  a.in.  21         „ 

3.  Taefittff  „       20  ,,     i  p.m.  21        ,, 

4.  Serica                  ,,        22  „     6  p.m.  23        „ 
S-  Taitsing             „       26  „  10  p.m.  -        26        „' 

Q 


226  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

It  was  between  Anjer  and  Mauritius,  under  the 
influence  of  the  steady  SA.  trade  wind  of  the 
Indian  Ocean,  that  the  racing  tea  ships  were 
accustomed  to  make  their  best  times.  It  was  on 
this  stretch  that  every  kind  of  flying  kite  was  set 
and  hung  on  to  until  the  very  last  moment. 

Ringtails  were  bent  outside  the  spanker  with  a 
watersail  underneath  the  boom  ;  wings  in  the  shape 
of  spare  mizen  staysails  were  laced  on  to  the  lower 
stunsails ;  the  Jamie  Green  was  almost  a  fixture 
along  the  bowsprit ;  a  bonnet  was  laced  on  the  fore- 
sail, watersails  hauled  out  under  the  passeree  booms 
and  a  spare  flying  jib  run  well  up  on  the  fore  royal 
or  fore  topgallant  stay  as  a  jib  topsail.  Every  stay 
to  the  main  skystay  had  its  staysail,  whilst  the 
fore  topmast  and  main  topmast  staysails  were  so 
voluminous  that  their  heads  came  to  the  collars  of 
their  respective  stays.  Then  the  large  suit  of  stun- 
sails, from  the  royal  down,  were  sent  aloft,  tea 
clippers  having  as  a  rule  a  large  and  small  suit. 

The  following  entry  on  26th  June  in  Ariel's  log 
gives  some  idea  of  the  carrying  on: — "Carpenter 
making  stunsail  yards,  having  carried  away  two 
topmast,  one  royal  and  one  topgallant  stunsail  yard." 

The  best  runs  of  the  passage  were  made  on  this 
stretch  and  were — 


On  June  24  Fiery  Cross 

. 

Miles. 
328 

,,       .,      26  Aritl 

- 

330 

,      2S  Taeping 

- 

319 

Ariel  317. 

,,        ,29  Strica 

291 

„    July     2  Taitsittg- 

- 

3i» 

THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  227 

The  ships  passed  the  longitude  of  the  Mauritius 
without  changing  their  order,  as  follows  : — 


Fitry  Cross  on  June  29  -        10  days  from  Anjer. 

Ariel             „   July      i  -  -        11          „ 

T^piiig        „      „        I  -        .                 II 

Serica             „      „        4  -         -  •         12          „             „ 

Taitsing         „     „        9  -                 13 


From  Mauritius  to  the  Cape  all  kinds  of  weather 
were  encountered,  from  light  airs  to  heavy  storms. 

Fiery  Cross,  steering  into  the  Natal  Coast  to 
make  the  most  of  the  Agulhas  current,  actually 
sighted  the  Cape,  but  Ariel  and  Taeping,  further  to 
the  southward,  were  luckier  with  their  winds,  and 
closed  up  on  her,  whilst  Serica  steering  a  more 
southerly  course  than  the  others  got  caught  by  the 
westerlies  and  had  to  tack  up  north  again  in  order 
to  get  the  favourable  current. 

Whilst  rounding  the  African  Coast  the  tea  ships 
had  a  chance  of  showing  their  paces  against  other 
fast  homeward  bounders.  On  loth  July,  with  a 
fresh  southerly  breeze,  Ariel  passed  one  of  Smith's 
smart  little  Cities,  the  City  of  Bombay,  going  nearly 
2  feet  to  her  one,  and  on  15th  July,  with  a  light 
N.W.  wind,  she  overhauled  the  Donald  Currie 
flyer,  Tantallon  Castle,  with  the  greatest  of  ease. 

The  meridian  of  the  Cape  was  passed  in  the 
following  order : — 

1.  Fli^  Cross  on  Juty  15  at  10  p.m.  16  Says  from  Mauritius,  47  days 

from  Fooehow. 

2.  Ariel  on  July  15  a  few  hours  later,  14  days  from  Mauritius,  44  days 

from  iPodchbW. 


228  THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS 

^.     Taefing  on  July  i6  half  a  day  later,  15  days  from  Mauritius,  45  days 
from  Foochow. 

4.  Serica  on  July  19,  IS  days  from  Mauritius,  50  days  from  Foochow. 

5.  Taitsing  on  July  24,  15  days  from  Mauritius,  54  days  from  Foochow. 

From  the  Cape  Fiery  Cross  and  Ariel,  steering 
the  same  course,  had  light  winds,  whilst  Taeping, 
some  300  miles  nearer  the  African  Coast,  had 
better  luck. 

On  19th  July,  all  three  ships  were  abreast  though 
out  of  sight  of  each  other,  and  Taeping,  continuing 
to  gain,  was  the  first  to  pass  St.  Helena.  Mean- 
while, Serica,  following  in  the  wake  of  Taeping,  was 
making  the  best  time  of  the  whole  fleet,  and 
actually  went  ahead  of  Ariel  for  a  day  or  two. 

At  St.  Helena  the  order  was — 


I. 

Taeping        on  July  27 

11 

days  from  the  Cape 

2. 

Fiery  Crass  ,,      ,,     28 

13 

>>                           X 

3- 

Serica            ,,     ,,     29 

10 

,.            >> 

4- 

Ariel             „      „     29 

14 

1)            .- 

S- 

Taitsing        „    Aug.  5 

12 

>l                        M 

However,  between  St.  Helena  and  Ascension 
Ariel  got  a  slant  and  making  up  a  day,  again  drew 
level  with  Fiery  Cross;  at  the  same  Taitsing,  which 
had  lagged  behind  for  so  long,  began  to  make  up 
ground. 

The  timing  of  the  fleet  at  Ascension  was — 


I. 

2. 

3- 
4- 

Taeping       on  July  31 

Fiery  Cross  ,,  Aug.  i 

Ariel             ,,      ,,      i     at  4.30  p.m. 

Serica             ,,      ,,      2 

4  days  from  St.  Helena 

4 

3 

4 

S- 

Taitsing        „      „     8      - 

3 

At  the  equator  Fiery  Cross  and  Ariel  had  again 
drawn  level  with  Taeping,  all  three  vessels  crossing 
the  line  on  the  same  day,  the  order  being — 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  229 

1.  Taeping      on  August  4  -  4  days  from  Ascension. 

2.  FUry  Cross  „        „      4  -        -        3        „  „ 

3.  Ariel  „         ,        4  -        -        3        ..              .. 

4.  Serica  „         ,,       6                   -         4        „               ,, 

5.  Taitsing      „  „     12                             4         ..               » 

From  the  line  the  racing  became  closer  than  ever. 

On  9th  August  in  lat.  12°  29'  N.,  the  Taeping  and 
Fiery  Cross  exchanged  signals,  the  Ariel  being  then 
just  a  day  behind  them  and  further  to  the  westward. 
But  during  the  next  few  days  the  latter  again 
resumed  the  lead. 

Taeping  and  Fiery  Cross,  with  light  and  variable 
winds,  remained  in  company  till  17th  August,  their 
noon  position  on  that  date  being  27°  53'  N.,  36° 
54'  W.  Here  bad  luck  fell  to  the  share  of  Fiery 
Cross,  for  whilst  she  lay  in  a  dead  calm  she  had  the 
mortification  of  seeing  Taeping  pick  up  a  fresh 
breeze,  which  carried  the  latter  out  of  sight  in  four 
or  five  hours,  the  Fiery  Cross  remaining  becalmed 
and  not  making  a  knot  an  hour  for  24  hours. 

Meanwhile  the  times  of  passing  San  Antonio, 
Cape  Verde,  had  been — 

1.  Ariel  on  August  12  <■  8  days  from  the  equator. 

2.  Taeping        „       ,,13  -        9  >>  >• 

3.  Fiery  Cross  „       ,,13  -        9  >.  >• 

4.  Serica  ,,       >•        '3  -7  "  >< 

5.  Taitsing       ,,       ,,        19  -  7  >.  >> 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Serica  had  run  up  to 
Taeping  and  Fiery  Cross,  whilst  Taitsing  had  also 
shortened  her  distance  from  the  leaders  by  a 
couple  of  days. 

As  the  ships  neared  the  Western  Isles,  the  ranks 


330  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

continued  to  close  up  and  on  29th  August  the  first 
four  ships  passed  Flores  within  the  24  hours,  Ariel 
still  holding  the  lead  from  Fiery  Cross,  their  noon 
positions  being — 

Aritl  -  41°  54'  N.,  34°  32'  W.     Fiery  Cross  -  41°  5'  N.,  35°  51'  W. 

But  the  most  remarkable  incident  in  this  stretch  was 
the  wonderful  sailing  of  Taitsing,  which  had  made 
up  three  days  on  the  leading  ship. 

The  times  here  are  truly  astonishing  in  their 
closeness — 

1.  Ariel  on  Aug.  29         17  days  from  San  Antonio  91  days  out. 

2.  Fiery  Cross  ,,     ,,      29  16  ,,  ,,  92        ,, 

3.  Tasking         „     „      29  16  ,,  „  91 

4.  Serica  ,,     ,,    .29         16  ,,  ,,  91         ,, 

5.  Taitsing       „  Sept,    i  -     13  ,,  „  93        ,, 

From  the  Western  Isles  the  racers  had  fresh  W. 
and  S.W.  winds,  with  only  one  day  of  easterly 
weather,  all  of  them  making  the  run  to  soundings 
in  six  days. 

At  1.30  a.m.  on  5th  September,  A rie/  sighted  the 
Bishop  Light,  and,  with  all  possible  sail  set,  tore 
along  for  the  mouth  of  the  Channel.  At  daybreak 
a  vessel  was  seen  on  her  starboard  quarter  carrying 
a  press  of  sail. 

"  Instinct  told  me  that  it  was  the  Taeping" 
Captain  Keay  wrote  in  a  letter  to  me ;  and  so  it 
proved  to  be. 

All  day  the  two  ships  surged  up  Channel  together, 
going  14  knots  with  royal  stunsails  and  all  flying 
kites  set,  the  wind  being  strong  from  W.S.W. 

The   Lizard   Lights  were  abeam   at  8  a.m.  and 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  231 

Start  Point  at  noon.  Towards  6  p.m.,  when  off 
Portland,  both  ships  were  compelled  to  take  in  their 
Jamie  Greens  in  order  to  get  the  anchors  over.  At 
7.25  p.m.  St.  Catherines  bore  north  i  mile,  and 
soon  after  midnight  Beachy  Head  was  abeam, 
distant  5  miles. 

All  this  time  there  had  been  no  alteration  to 
speak  of  in  the  distance  between  the  two  vessels — 
Ariel  kept  her  lead,  gaining  a  little  as  the  wind 
freshened  and  letting  Taeping  up  again  as  it  took  off. 

At  3  a.m.,  when  nearing  Dungeness,  y^rzV/ began 
to  reduce  sail,  send  up  rockets  and  burn  blue  lights. 
At  4  a.m.,  when  abreast  of  the  light  and  ij  miles 
off,  she  hove  to,  still  signalling  with  flares  and 
rackets  for  a  pilot. 

At  5  a.m.  Taeping  was  close  astern  of  Ariel  and 
also  signalling,  but  as  she  showed  no  signs  of 
heaving  to,  Captain  Keay  began  to  fear  that  she 
meant  to  run  ahead  of  him,  he  therefore  bore  up 
athwart  her  hawse,  determined  at  all  costs  to 
prevent  M'Kinnon  from  nicking  in  and  getting 
the  first  pilot.  This  daring  manoeuvre  succeeded. 
M'Kinnon  at  once  gave  in  and  hove  to. 

At  5.30  a.m.  the  pilot  cutters  were  seen  coming 
out  of  the  Roads  and  Captain  Keay  at  once  kept  away 
and  laid  Ariel  in  between  Taeping  and  the  cutters, 

At  5.5s  a.m.  the  pilot  stepped  aboard  the  Arid 
and  saluted  Captain  Keay  as  the  first  ship  of  the 
season  from  China. 


232  THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS 

At  6  a.m.  both  ships  stood  away  for  the  South 
Foreland  with  their  pilots  aboard.  Ariel  set  all 
plain  sail  but  Taeping  sent  aloft  topmast,  topgallant 
and  lower  stunsails  on  one  side.  With  this  extra 
canvas  she  managed  to  close  up  a  little  on  her  rival, 
but  Ariel  was  still  a  mile  ahead  when  M'Kinnon, 
after  shifting  his  stunsails  across  to  the  port  side  on 
hauling  up  through  the  Downs,  was  at  last  compelled 
to  take  them  in  off  Deal. 

Here  both  ships  took  in  their  white  wings  and 
signalled  for  steam,  with  their  numbers  flying  from 
their  peak  halliards.  This  time  it  was  Taeping's 
turn  to  crow,  for  the  best  tug  coming  out  from 
behind  the  Ness,  sent  her  towline  aboard  the 
nearest  of  the  two  clippers,  which,  being  the 
sternmost  one,  was  of  course  Taeping.  Ariel  had 
to  put  up  with  a  poor  tug  which  was  waiting  in  the 
Downs.  Captain  Keay  would  have  taken  a  second 
tug  alongside,  but  there  was  no  object  in  the  extra 
expense  as  in  any  case  they  would  have  to  wait  at 
Gravesend  until  the  tide  made. 

Taeping,  with  her  superior  tug,  arrived  off 
Gravesend  55  minutes  ahead  of  Ariel;  but  the 
latter  avoided  anchoring  by  taking  another  tug 
alongside.  As  soon  as  there  was  enough  water 
both  vessels  proceeded.  At  9  p.m.  Ariel  arrived 
outside  the  East  India  Dock  gates.  Taeping,  having 
further  to  go,  did  not  reach  the  London  Docks  until 
10  p.m.,  but  drawing  less  water  than  Ariel,  she  was 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  233 

able  to  go  through  the  lock  and  thus  docked 
20  minutes  before  the  Ariel. 

Such  a  close  and  exciting  finish  had  never  been 
seen  before  in  an  ocean  race,  and  the  interest  it 
aroused  caused  the  newspapers  to  vie  with  each 
other  in  publishing  sensational  accounts,  and  all 
kinds  of  incorrect  reports  as  to  which  had  won  the 
premium,  set  forth  as  los.  per  ton  in  the  bills  of 
lading,  were  set  abroad. 

I  therefore  quote  from  Captain  Keay's  private 
journal  in  order  to  show  conclusively  how  the 
difficulty  was  settled.  He  writes  as  follows : — 
"  When  the  ships  were  telegraphed  through  the 
Downs,  the  owners  and  agents  of  both  met  and 
discussed  the  position  and  prospects  as  to  who 
should  dock  first,  the  risk  of  losing  the  extra  los. 
per  ton  if  both  should  dock  at  the  same  time,  or  if  a 
dispute  should  arise  as  to  which  was  entitled  to  the 
extra  freight — also  that  one  might  outwit  the  other 
by  going  into  the  Victoria  Dock.  It  was  arranged, 
after  much  going  and  coming,  that  each  ship  should 
make  for  her  respective  dock  and  let  the  one  which 
had  the  advantage  of  a  few  minutes  claim,  while  the 
other  would  avoid  all  pretence  to  claiming  lest  the 
tea  merchants  should  have  power  to  maintain  that 
there  was  no  first  ship  as  both  claimed  the  prize — 
this  the  merchants  were  quite  prepared  to  do 
especially  as  the  teas  were  selling  at  a  great  loss." 

This    arrangement    was    adhered    to ;     Taeting 


234  THE    C0INA    CLIPPERS 

claimed  and  received  the  los.  per  ton,  which  she 
divided  with  Ariel;  Captain  M'Kinnon  at  the  same 
time  dividing  the  ;^ioo,  given  to  the  captain  of  the 
winner,  with  Captain  Keay. 

Meanwhile  another  of  the  racers  was  close  on 
the  heels  of  the  dead-heaters,  and  whilst  the  teg, 
samples  were  being  tossed  ashore  from  Ariel  and 
Taeping  at  midnight,  Serica  was  being  hauled  into 
the  West  India  Dock.  It  appeared  that  whilst  the 
first  two  ships  were  racing  neck  and  neck  alpng  the 
English  Coast,  Serica  had  been  tearing  up  the 
French  side  of  the  Channel,  and,  passing  through 
the  Downs  at  noon,  got  into  the  river  on  the 
same  tide  and  just  managed  to  scrape  into  the 
West  India  Dock  at  11.30  p.m.  as  the  gates  were 
being  closed. 

Surely  a  more  marvellous  race  could  hardly  be 
imagined.  Leaving  the  Min  River  on  the  same 
tide,  Ariel,  Taeping  and  Serica  had  docked  in  the 
River  Thames  on  the  same  tide.  It  was  a  proud 
day  for  Scotland,  for  all  three  captains,  Keay  of 
Ariel,  M'Kinnon  of  Taeping  and  Innes  of  Serica 
hailed  from  the  Land  o'  Cakes. 

And  what  had  become  of  the  Fiery  Cross  which 
had  held  the  lead  for  so  long?  She  was  only  a 
little  over  24  hours  behind.  At  10  a.m.  on  the  7.th 
September  she  sighted  the  Isle  of  Wight.  The 
wind,  which  had  been  fresh  from  the  W.S.W.,  now 
increased  to  a  gale,  and  on  her  arrival  in  the  Downs 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  235 

it  was  blowing  so  hard  that  she  was  compelled  to 
anchor,  and  was  unable  to  get  into  London  dock 
until  8  a.m.  on  Saturday,  8th  September. 

Tattling,  the  last  of  the  five,  arrived  in  the  river 
on  Sunday,  9th  September,  in  the  forenoon. 

Thus  the  final  times  were-r- 

^rtV/ arrived  in  the  Downs  at  8  a.m.  Sept.  6  -        •        99  days  out. 
Taeping  „  „  8.10  a.m.  Sept  6        -        99        ,, 

Serica  „  „  noon  Sept.  6     -        -        99 

J^ierj>  Cress     ,,  „  daring  the  night  Sept.  7  loi 

Taifsing        „  ,,  forenoon  Sept.  9        -  loi        ,, 

None  of  the  ships  that  sailed  later  approached 
these  times. 

The  last  arrival  was  the  leisurely  Black  Prince, 
whose  performance  was  a  great  disappointment  to 
her  owners  and  builders.  As  a  matter  of  fact  she 
was  a  very  speedy  ship,  but  Captain  Inglis  was  too 
cautious  a  man  ever  to  make  a  fine  passage ;  he  took 
her  roiind  instead  of  through  the  narrow  passages 
such  as  Stolzes  in  Gaspar  Strait,  and  always  ran 
her  away  to  leeward  in  a  squall  instead  of  luffing 
her  through  it. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  the  Black  Prince 
received  the  name  of  "  The  Whipper-in "  in  the 
City,  but  Captain  Inglis  was  impervious  to  chaff, 
and  made  no  effort  to  get  this  title  revoked,  and 
"  The  Whipper-in  "  Black  Prince  remained  for  the 
rest  of  her  racing  days. 

"Titania." 

Whilst    Ariel,     Taeping    and    Serica    were 
making   history,    Robert   Steele   was    building   the 


236  THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS 

Titania  which,  in  both  beauty  and  speed,  was  to 
rival  those  incomparable  sister  ships,  Ariel  and 
Sir  Lancelot. 

If  there  was  a  fault  to  be  found  with  these  two 
lovely  little  clippers,  it  was  that  they  were  a  little 
tender  and  in  squally  weather  required  very  careful 
watching.  When  Shaw,  Maxton  &  Co.  gave  Steele 
the  order  for  Titania,  they  asked  him  to  give  them 
a  stiffer  boat,  and  he  responded  by  giving  the  new 
ship  more  beam. 

Comparing  the  registered  measurements  of  the 
three,  the  number  of  beams  to  length  works  out 
as  follows — 

Ariel 5-84 

Sir  Lancelot                     -        •        •        ■        5-83 
Titania 5-55 

Titania  was  launched  on  26th  November,  1866, 
her  dimensions  by  builder's  measurement  being — 

Length  of  keel  and  fore  rake  •        -        -  199  feet 

Breadth  of  beam  .        .  36    „ 

Depth  of  hold                   -  -        -        .  21    1, 

Tonnage  ...  ...  i222||  tons 

Her  best  point  of  sailing  proved  to  be  with  the 
wind  just  abaft  the  beam,  when  it  was  not  too 
strong  to  prevent  her  carrying  all  plain  sail.  She 
was  a  splendid  sea  boat  and  handled  like  a  top ;  she 
was  very  lively,  and,  like  most  tea  clippers,  threw 
the  water  all  over  her  in  heavy  weather.  In  light 
airs  she  cut  along  like  a  knife  as  long  as  there  was  a 
ripple  on  the  water  and  it  required  an  absolutely  flat 
calm  to  stop  her  steering.     There  is  no  doubt  that 


< 

H 
H 


THE   CHINA    CUPPERS  237 

she  was  quite  as  fast  as  Ariel  and  Sir  Lancelot, 
though  it  was  only  under  Captain  Burgoyne  that 
she  was  allowed  to  show  her  paces. 

Captain  Deas,  who  took  her  from  the  builder's 
hands,  should  never  have  had  a  tea  clipper.  He 
was  a  first-class  master  but  not  a  racing  man,  and 
when  he  took  in  sail  it  was  not ,  made  again 
in  a  hurry.  However,  she  had  a  good  mate  in 
Duncan,  who  was  in  the  Ariel  her  first  voyage  and 
later  in  the  Norman  Court,  and  a  wonderful  bo's'n 
with  only  one  eye,  who  saw  as  much  with  that  eye 
as  most  men  could  with  a  dozen. 

**Titania's"  Disastrous  Passage  Out  in  1866^7. 

I  have  already  described  how  the  Titania 
was  dismasted  just  north  of  the  Cape  Verd.  The 
squall  struck  her  about  8  a.m.,  when  the  man  who 
had  been  sent  aloft  to  take  in  the  fore-topgallant 
stunsail  was  still  aloft,  and  he  had  only  just  reached 
the  deck  when  the  foremast  buckled  just  above  the 
mast  coat.  As  the  mast  went  over  the  side  it  broke 
again  where  it  smashed  in  the  rail. 

The  Titanids  masts  like  those  of  Sir  Lancelot 
and  Ariel  were  of  iron,  but  for  some  reason  or 
other  the  angle  irons  had  been  omitted  in  her  case 
and  this  was  given  out  as  the  reason  why  the 
foremast  went.  In  a  moment  the  beautiful  little 
vessel  was  a  wreck  aloft,  but  luckily  the  hull 
sustained  no  damage.  All  hands  were  at  once 
called  to   clear  away  the  wreck  and  it   took   the 


238  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

carpenter  three  days  cutting  through  the  buckled 
iron  foremast.  Saving  what  he  could  of  the  spars, 
Captain  Deas  proceeded  to  rig  jury  masts  and  then 
made  the  best  of  his  way  to  Rio. 

Here  Titania  was  delayed  some  time  whilst  a 
wooden  foremast  was  being  built  for  hef.  When 
she  did  resume  her  voyage  she  had  no  sooner  got 
down  into  easting  weather  than  another  defect  was 
discovered  aloft.  She  was  about  the  meridian  of  the 
Capej  when  the  lower  main  masthead  was  found  to  be 
fractured.  Sail  was  at  once  reduced  and  the  mast- 
head fished,  the  topgallant  mast  being  sent  on  deck 
to  relieve  the  strain  upon  the  cap.  She  thus  had  to 
make  the  rest  of  the  passage  under  easy  canvas  and 
was  a  long  time  getting  out  to  Shanghai. 

Whilst  running  north  in  the  China  Seas  she 
nearly  finished  her  own  career  as  well  as  Ariel's 
through  the  fault  of  her  officer  of  the  watch. 

Captain  Keay  was  already  on  his  way  home.  At 
2  a.m.  on  the  morning  of  29th  June,  when  in 
lat.  10°  N.,  long.  110°  E.,  he  was  beating  south 
against  the  monsoon,  the  wind  being  fresh  and 
squally,  when  he  was  nearly  run  down  by  Titania, 
which  should  of  course  have  given  way  to  him  in 
accordance  with  the  Rules  of  the  Road.  Captain 
Keay's  entry  in  his  log  runs  as  follows — 

"  2  a.m. — Had  to  keep  off  for  a  running  ship  to 
avoid  collision.  Had  lost  his  main-topgallaiit  inast. 
Had  double  topsails  and  asked  us,    'What  ship  is 


THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS  239 

that  ? '  I  reproved  his  lubberly  conduct  in  not 
hauling  up  to  go  astern  of  us  and  did  not  have  time 
to  answer  him.     Was  it  the  Titania  ?  " 

It  was  the  Titania,  and  we  may  guess  what 
Ceiptain  Keay  had  to  say  to  Captain  Deas  and  his 
old  mate  Duncan  when  next  they  met. 

On  her  arrival  in  Shanghai  Titania  had  her  main 
and  mizen  masts  removed  and  new  iron  masts  put 
in  with  proper  angle  irons.  She  was,  of  course,  too 
late  to  take  any  part  in  the  racing,  but  getting  home 
to  London  before  the  end  of  the  year,  was  then 
given  a  complete  new  outfit  of  spars,  and  in 
January,  1868,  sailed  again  for  China  with  Captain 
Deas  still  in  command. 

"Sir  Lancelot"  dismasted  on  her  F^assage  Out 
in  i866»7. 

The  construction  of  iron  masts  and  spars 
was  in  its  infancy  at  this  date,  with  the  result 
that  many  a  vessel  suffered  dismasting.  And  Sir 
Lancelot  on  her  second  voyage  was  among  the 
victims,  owing  to  lack  of  Structural  strength  in  her 
bowsprit. 

At  the  end  of  hef  mismanaged  first  voyage, 
Messrs.  MacCunn,  with  many  a  scathing  epithet, 
discharged  their  incapable  skipper^  and,  determined 
to  secure  a  first-rate  man  at  all  fcosts,  offefed 
Captain  Robinson,  who  had  commanded  the  Fiery 
Cross  for  two  years  and  was  in  the  very  front  rank 
of  racing  skipperSj  a  handsome  inducement  to  leave 


240  THE   CHINA    CLIPPBRS 

the  old  flyer  and  take  charge  of  the  untried  Sir 
Lancelot.  To  Campbell's  loss  and  MacCunn's  gain, 
he  accepted  the  offer,  and  thus  it  was  that  Sir 
Lancelot,  with  a  new  captain  and  picked  crew,  left 
the  Thames  at  the  beginning  of  December,  1866, 
with  every  anticipation  of  a  prosperous  voyage. 

The  start,  however,  was  a  bad  one.  From  the 
first  the  "  Flying  Horse  "  clipper  had  dirty  weather 
and  was  compelled  to  beat  down  Channel  against 
a  strong  sou'-west  blow,  which  resolved  itself 
into  a  heavy  gale  as  soon  as  she  was  abreast  of 
Ushant. 

On  13th  December,  with  the  wind  increasing 
with  every  squall,  Captain  Robinson  wore  his  ship 
to  the  south'ard  and  reefed  down.  At  3.30  p.m. 
both  foresail  and  mainsail  were  hauled  up  and 
made  fast. 

At  4.30  Sir  Lancelot  was  head-reaching  com- 
fortably on  the  starboard  tack  when  she  was  struck 
by  a  tremendous  squall.  The  gallant  clipper  stood 
up  to  it  manfully ;  but,  of  a  sudden,  in  the  midst  of 
the  hurly-burly  of  screaming  wind  and  hissing  seas, 
there  arose  the  sinister  sound  of  cracking  spars  and 
tearing  canvas — the  bowsprit  had  carried  away 
inside  the  forestay-band  close  to  the  knight-heads. 
Before  Robinson  had  time  to  issue  a  command,  the 
foremast  followed  it  over  the  side,  breaking  off  like 
a  carrot  just  above  the  mast  coat.  Then  the  main- 
mast went.     This  mast  broke  below  the  main  deck 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  241 

and  tore  a  big  hole  in  the  deck  itself  as  it  fell 
over  the  side.  Next  came  the  mizen's  turn,  here 
everything  went  except  the  lower  mast,  even  the 
cross-jack  yard  going  overboard  with  the  rest  of 
the  wreck. 

The  plight  of  the  beautiful  ship  may  be  imagined, 
as  she  rolled  in  the  trough  of  the  sea,  her  main  deck 
gaping  open  and  the  whole  fabric  of  her  immense 
sailspread  a  tangle  of  broken  spars,  torn  canvas  and 
twisted  cordage,  part  of  it  blocking  up  her  decks  and 
the  rest  pounding  alongside  to  leeward. 

All  that  night  the  Sjr  Lancelot  lay  helpless  with 
only  her  mizen  lower  mast  standing,  whilst  the  mass 
of  wreckage  acted  like  a  battering  ram  against 
her  port  side. 

All  hands  worked  frenziedly  with  axe,  hatchet 
and  saw  cutting  this  wreckage  free  of  the  ship. 
And  there  was  more  than  sufficient  cause  for  haste 
as  the  Sir  Lancelot  was  drifting  down  on  the  worst 
lee  shore  in  the  world.  By  daybreak  Ushant  bore 
S.E.  30  miles,  but  luckily  for  the  crippled  ship  the 
wind  had  got  further  to  the  south 'ard.  All  day  the 
work  of  clearing  the  wreck  and  fitting  jury  masts  went 
on,  and  so  smart  were  both  officers  and  crew  that 
they  had  got  a  jury  mast  and  jibboom  rigged  by  the 
morning  of  the  15th,  and  Captain  Robinson  was 
able  to  get  his  ship  away  before  the  wind  with  a 
fore-topgallant  sail,  royal  and  staysails  set  forward. 

At  10.30  p.m.  he  made  St.  Anthony  and  sailing 

R 


242  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

into  Falmouth  without  any  assistance,  let  go  his 
anchor  in  Carrick  Roads.  For  this  fine  piece  of 
seamanship  the  underwriters  awarded  ;^25o  to  be 
divided  in  proportion  between  Captain  Robinson, 
his  officers  and  crew. 

But  though  the  ship  was  saved,  there  were  yet 
innumerable  difficulties  to  be  overcome  if  she  was 
to  reach  China  in  time  for  the  tea  season.  At  first 
it  was  proposed  to  tow  the  lame  duck  to  London 
to  refit,  but  in  the  end  it  was  decided  to  carry  out 
the  work  at  Falmouth.  For  this  purpose  Mr. 
James  MacCunn  hurried  down  to  Cornwall  to  take 
charge  whilst  Captain  Robinson  was  away  looking 
for  new  masts  and  gear 

The  resources  of  Falmouth  were  taxed  to  the 
utmost,  and  Mr.  MacCunn  found  it  necessary  to 
bring  down  a  gang  of  Liverpool  riggers,  headed  by 
a  master-rigger  named  Nicholas,  who  soon  proved 
himself  invaluable,  a  first  rate  man  of  go  and  grit 
whom  nothing  dismayed.  (Many  years  afterwards 
Nicholas  had  command  of  the  Sir  Lancelot 
and  later  still  became  second  officer  of  the 
Cunarder   Umbria.) 

There  was  no  time  to  build  new  iron  masts,  but 
luckily  Messrs.  Money,  Wigram  &  Sons  were  able 
to  supply  a  magnificent  set  of  Oregon  pine  sticks, 
which  they  sent  off  to  Falmouth  with  admirable 
despatch. 

Meanwhile,    with     Captain    Robinson    away   in 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  243 

London,  Mr.  MacCunn  found  that  he  had  a  stiff 
contract  before  him.  First  the  cargo  had  to  be 
taken  out,  the  undamaged  part  being  stored  in  the 
dock  warehouses,  and  the  damaged  part  returned 
to  the  shippers  for  repairs  and  renewal.  As  soon  as 
the  cargo  was  out  of  her,  the  refit  began.  This  was 
carried  on  night  and  day,  the  night  gangs  being 
lighted  by  the  primitive  means  of  torches  and 
blazing  tar  barrels. 

Plank  tramways  were  laid  from  the  railway  depot 
to  the  ship's  side,  by  which  the  huge  Oregon  masts 
and  spars  were  brought  to  the  water's  edge.  Using 
a  big  hermaphrodite  derrick  instead  of  mast  sheers, 
Nicholas  soon  had  the  lower  masts  on  end,  after 
which  re-rigging  was  carried  on  with  a  rush. 

New  sails,  standing  and  running  rigging  were 
made  by  the  original  contractors  in  record  time,  so 
there  was  no  waiting  ;  yet,  though  all  hands  worked 
with  a  will,  an  unparalleled  series  of  obstacles 
fought  to  delay  the  refit. 

Snow  blizzards  swept  the  land,  followed  by 
intense  frost — such  weather  as  had  not  been  experi- 
enced in  Cornwall  for  50  years.  Then  the  imported 
riggers  caused  trouble,  through  the  jealousy  of  the 
local  men,  and  this  resulted  in  riots  and  bloodshed. 
Yet,  in  spite  of  a  foot  of  snow  on  the  level  and 
constant  rows  between  the  warring  factions,  the 
work  went  on  like  magic. 

The  new  rigging  was   dropped   over   the   mast- 


244  THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS 

heads,  the  yards  crossed  and  sails  bent,  the  hull 
itself  repaired  and  remetalled  by  Falmouth  ship- 
wrights— who  were  more  plentiful  then  than  they 
are  now — the  boats  repaired  or  new  ones  built,  and 
lastly  the  cargo  and  stores  safely  stowed — all  in  six 
weeks.  And  on  31st  January,  Sir  Lancelot  once 
more  set  sail  for  China.  The  rest  of  the  passage 
was  uneventful,  the  new  Oregon  pine  masts  were  a 
great  success  and  Robinson  swore  by  them.  Though 
too  late  for  the  Foochow  teas,  the  Sir  Lancelot  was 
able  to  sail  from  Shanghai  on  15th  June. 

"Ariel's"  Record  Passage  out  to  Hong  Kong 
in  1866»7. 

Whilst  Titania  was  refitting  in  Rio  and 
Sir  Lancelot  in  Falmouth,  Ariel,  the  first  of  the 
celebrated  Steele  trio,  was  covering  herself  with 
more  glory. 

Leaving  Gravesend  on  14th  October,  she  arrived 
in  Hong  Kong  harbour  on  6th  January,  1867,  after 
a  record  passage  of  79  days  21  hours,  pilot  to 
pilot,  or  83  days  from  Gravesend  to  Hong  Kong, 
anchorage  to  anchorage. 

This  wonderful  passage  made  against  the  N.E. 
monsoon  raised  quite  a  sensation  in  Hong  Kong^ 
and  when  it  was  telegraphed  home  was  hardly 
believed.  It  was  an  easy  record  for  the  run  out 
to  Hong  Kong  and  has  never  been  beaten  since. 
There   were   many   imaginative    reports   of    better 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  245 

performances ;  there  was  even  a  rumour  that  an 
American  clipper,  the  Pride  of  the  Ocean,  had 
run  from  the  Lizard  to  Hong  Kong  in  69  days, 
but  this,  Uke  all  the  others,  was  never  substanti- 
ated. The  nearest  approaches  to  Ariel's  passages 
that  I  can  find  are  two  runs  of  the  Northfleett 
both  just  under  90  days,  and  one  of  Robin  Hood's 
of  90  days. 

As  Captain  Keay  wrote  in  his  abstracts  at  the 
time : — "  There  were  many  reports  of  quicker 
passages  than  ours  talked  of  by  lovers  of  the 
marvellous,  but  on  best  authority  in  Hong  Kong 
there  was  found  to  be  no  foundation  for  the  mythical 
things  said  to  have  been  done  by  some  gun-brig  or 
by  some  clipper.  Several  naval  officers  visited  us 
for  a  look  at  our  chart  and  track  out,  also  surveyors 
of  long  experience  in  China,  and  all  agreed  as  to 
its  being  the  fastest  on  record  by  some  five  or  six 
days  in  any  season,  hence  very  difficult  to  beat  in 
the  N.E.  season." 

The  Tea  Race  of  1867. 

Owing  partly  to  the  dead  heat  finish  in  1866, 
but  perhaps  more  to  th  slump  in  tea,  the  los.  per 
ton  premium,  which  amounted  to  about  ;^500,  was 
withdrawn  in  1867;  but  for  all  that  the  racing 
continued  as  keen  as  ever.  With  the  abolition  of 
the  premium  it  was  arranged  that  the  vessel  making 
the  best  time  was  to  be  considered  the  winner  and 
not  the  first  in  dock  as  heretofore. 


246  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

The  passages  this  year  were  as  follows : — 


Ship. 

Captain. 

From. 

Date 
Lett. 

Anjer. 

Date  of 
Arrival. 

Days 
Out. 

Taiwan     .     .     . 

Foochow 

May  30 

_ 

_ 

Maitland  .     .     . 

Coulson 

If 

June     I 

— 

Sept.  24 

116 

Serica   .     .     .     . 

Innes. 

1) 

„       2 

— 

„     30 

120 

Taeping     .     .     . 

Dowdy 

)» 

.>      4 

June 

27 

„     14 

102 

Fiery  Cross    .     . 

Kirkup 

)> 

}>      5 

July 

I 

..     24 

III 

White  Adder .     . 

— 

}» 

>»      *^ 

*> 

I 

Oct.     7 

123 

Ziba      .... 

Jones 

)} 

,      8 

„      7 

121 

Flying  Spur  .     . 

Ryrie 

)i 

,      9 

— 

,.      2 

"S 

Taitsing    .     .     . 

Nutsford 

M 

,      9 

July 

14 

„      7 

120 

Black  Prince  .     . 

Inglis 

»l 

>     10 

)) 

14 

,.      7 

119 

Yangtze     .     .     . 

Kemball 

»» 

>     12 

J» 

14 

.,      7 

117 

Ariel    .     .     .     . 

Keay 

.     13 

»» 

9 

Sept.  23 

102 

Chinaman.     .     . 

— 

,, 

>     14 

J» 

18 

Oct.     7 

"S 

Golden  Spur  .     . 

— 

1* 

.     18 

>>     IS 

119 

Deirfoot    .     .     . 

— 

Whampoa 

.       4 

July 

I 

,,      7 

1 25 

Min      .... 

Smith 

}> 

,       7 

)> 

12 

„      8 

123 

Belied  Will    .     . 

Graham 

}} 

,       7 

a 

I 

Sept.  24 

109 

JohnR.  Worcester 

— 

Shanghai 

,     10 

Oct.   12 

124 

Eliza  Shaw    .     . 

— 

11 

,     14 

— 

„     II 

119 

Challenger      .     . 

Brown 

)f 

.     14 

Aug. 

12 

>.     19 

127 

Sir  Lancelot  .     . 

Robinson 

ft 

,     I'! 

— 

Sept.  22 

99 

Falcon  .... 

— 

)f 

Juiy     8 

— 

Oct.  31 

116 

Titania      .     .     . 

Deas 

ti 

Sept.   2 

Oct. 

9 

Dec.  26 

"S 

The  first  two  starters  from  Foochow  were  new 
ships.  Taewan  had  the  misfortune  to  be  wrecked 
on  the  day  of  sailing  and  became  a  total  loss  ;  but 
Maitland  had  a  splendid  start,  as  she  found  a  fine 
N.E,  breeze  outside  and  was  able  to  stretch  away 
south  with  her  moonsails  set. 

This  vessel  was  expected  to  make  a  great 
reputation  for  herself.  Her  captain  had  boasted 
that  she  had  run  1 7  knots  an  hour  on  the  passage 
out  and  she  had  an  unusually  large  sail  spread, 
but  she  failed  to  come  up  to  the  expectations 
of  her  owners,  who  had  asked  Pile  of  Sunder- 
land for  a  world  beater.  But  speed  is  always 
elusive  and  though  Maitland  was  fast  enough  off 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  247 

the  wind,  she  would  not  go  to  windward  like  the 
Steele  cracks. 

Following  the  two  new  ships  came  the  three  old 
rivals,  Fiery  Cross,  Serica  and  Taeping,  the  two 
latter  with  the  same  skippers  as  in  1866,  but  Fiery 
Cross  was  commanded  by  Captain  Kirkup,  Robinson 
having  gone  to  the  Sir  Lancelot. 

Ariel  met  all  three  ships  on  her  way  up  to  load. 
She  passed  Serica  on  the  afternoon  of  the  3rd,  the 
wind  being  very  light  from  S.W.  by  S.  Taeping 
towed  passed  her  in  the  outer  channel  on  the  after- 
noon of  the  4th,  and  she  had  to  wait  at  Sharp  Peak 
till  7.30  p.m.  on  the  5th  for  the  return  of  the  tug 
Woosung,  which  had  left  Sharp  Peak  at  9  a.m. 
with  Fiery  Cross  in  tow. 

The  Taitsing  and  the  veteran  Flying  Spur  had  a 
great  race  as  to  which  should  be  loaded  first ;  in  the 
end  Flying  Spur  just  managed  to  finish  an  hour 
ahead,  so  had  first  call  on  the  Woosung.  No  other 
tug  being  available,  Captain  Nutsford  of  the 
Taitsing,  who  considered  that  his  vessel  was  much 
the  faster  of  the  two,  tried  hard  to  get  Captain 
Ryrie  to  allow  the  Woosung  to  take  him  to  sea  first, 
but  the  latter  naturally  refused,  not  wishing  to  lose 
24  hours.  However,  Taitsing's  skipper  was  not  to 
be  beat  and  engaged  fifty  large  sampans  to  tow  his 
vessel  down  and  by  their  means  was  enabled  to  get 
across  the  bar  only  an  hour  or  so  after  Flying  Spur. 
Black  Prince,   the   whipper    in,    was    only   a    tide 


248  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

behind  them.  Outside,  the  weather  being  hazy,  the 
vessels  were  not  long  in  sight  of  each  other,  but 
there  was  not  much  to  choose  between  Flying  Spur, 
Taitsing  and  Black  Prince  in  light  weather  and 
they  were  never  very  far  apart  all  the  way  down 
the  China  Seas. 

On  13th  June  the  Flying  Spur  was  jogging  along 
off  the  Cochin  China  Coast  under  short  sail,  having 
just  experienced  heavy  weather,  when  the  Taitsing 
was  sighted  coming  up  astern  under  every  rag  she 
could  set.  Captain  Ryrie  at  once  made  sail,  and 
though  the  Taitsing  occasionally  crept  up  to  Flying 
Spur,  she  never  succeeded  in  passing  her,  and  more 
than  once  the  latter  ran  away  from  her  and  left  her 
out  of  sight  astern. 

In  the  Api  '2^.s^^.^'e.  Flying  Spur  ^x\^  Black  Prince 
found  themselves  in  company.  A  heavy  squall 
making  up  struck  the  two  ships  simultaneously. 
The  careful  Inglis  at  once  clewed  up  his  topgallant 
sails  and  light  sails  and  kept  away  before  it,  but 
Ryrie  luffed  through  it  and  when  it  cleared  up  the 
crew  of  Black  Prince  had  the  mortification  of  seeing 
the  Flying  Spur  far  away  to  windward  sheeting 
home  her  royals.  Of  the  three  the  Flying  Spur 
was  first  through  the  Straits  of  Sunda. 

The  Black  Prince  nobly  upheld  her  title  of  the 
"  whipper  in  "  by  laying  her  main  topsail  to  the  mast 
and  indulging  in  a  few  hours'  fishing  on  the  Agulhas 
Bank  ;  nevertheless  she  managed  to  round  the  Cape 
in  company  with  Taitsing  on  13th  August. 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  249 

The  Flying  Spur  passed  the  Cape  two  or 
three  days  earlier.  Here  she  fell  in  with  the  Sir 
Lancelot,  which  had  only  sailed  from  Shanghai  on 
1 6th  June,  but  under  the  energetic  Robinson  had 
made  a  marvellously  quick  run  south. 

It  was  a  stormy  day  when  the  Flying  Spur  and 
Sir  Lancelot  met  off  the  Cape  Coast,  and  the  wind 
was  a  "dead  muzzier";  Flying  Spur  ^zs,  carrying 
what  was  considered  by  her  officers  to  be  a  heavy 
press  ot  sail,  viz.,  whole  topsails  and  courses  with 
outer  jib,  whilst  other  ships  in  company  were  close 
reefed.  But  Sir  Lancelot,  coming  up  on  the 
opposite  tack  so  as  to  cross  the  other's  bow,  was 
actually  carrying  three  topgallant  sails  and  flying  jib. 

Captain  Ryrie  and  his  officers  looked  at  the 
approaching  clipper  with  amazement,  for  the  amount 
of  canvas  Sir  Lancelot  was  staggering  under  was 
tremendous  considering  the  wind.  Indeed  such 
cracking  on  would  not  have  been  possible  but  that 
the  "  Flying  Horse  "  clipper  had  the  run  of  the  sea 
abaft  the  beam,  whereas  Flying  Spur  and  the  ships 
on  the  other  tack  had  it  before  the  beam. 

As  the  two  clippers  converged  on  each  other, 
they  began  signalling,  and  this  nearly  led  to  disaster 
on  the  Sir  Lancelot,  for  just  as  she  was  athwart  the 
hawse  of  the  Flying  Spur,  her  helmsman,  paying 
more  attention  to  the  latter's  signal  halliards  than  to 
his  own  steering,  allowed  his  ship  to  come  up  in 
the  wind  and  get  aback.      In  a  moment  the  Sir 


250  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Lancelot  had  heeled  right  over  and,  getting  stern- 
way,  was  within  an  ace  of  being  dismasted.  Indeed, 
so  far  over  did  she  go  and  so  close  were  the  two 
ships  to  each  other,  that  the  crew  of  the  Flying 
Spur  could  see  everything  that  took  place  on  her 
decks.  They  saw  Captain  Robinson  spring  upon 
his  careless  helmsman,  knock  him  down  and  jump 
on  him,  and  they  saw  the  watch  below  come 
flying  on  deck  in  their  shirt  tails.  However,  Sir 
Lancelot's  crew  were  as  smart  as  paint  in  whipping 
the  sail  off  her,  and  the  gallant  clipper,  as  soon  as 
she  was  relieved  of  some  of  the  pressure  aloft, 
brought  her  spars  to  windward  and  stood  up,  but  it 
had  been  a  close  shave. 

After  this  exciting  episode  the  two  ships  were  in 
company  for  ten  days,  a  proof  that  Flying  Spur 
when  hard  sailed  could  see  the  way  in  fair  winds 
with  any  of  her  newer  sisters. 

Running  down  to  St.  Helena,  the  Sir  Lancelot 
and  Flying  Spur  both  overhauled  the  moonsail 
clipper  Maitland,  and  their  treatment  of  her  must 
have  been  more  than  trying  to  Captain  Coulson 
after  his  bragging  on  the  China  Coast. 

When  the  Sir  Lancelot  passed  her,  Maitland  had 
every  kite  in  her  well-filled  sail-locker  hung  out, 
from  moonsails  and  skysail  stunsails  to  watersails 
and  save-alls.  Captain  Robinson  had  the  usual  flag 
talk  as  he  was  passing,  and  then  as  Sir  Lancelot 
quickly  drew  ahead,  he  signalled  sarcastically — 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  251 

"  Good-bye,  I  shall  be  forced  to  leave  you  if  you 
cannot  make  more  sail." 

Captain  Ryrie  of  the  Flying  Spur  was  even  more 
contemptuous.  The  Flying  Spur  sighted  the 
wonder  right  ahead  and  coming  up  with  her  very 
fast  went  by  her  to  windward,  then,  crossing  over  to 
the  MaiilancTs  lee  bow.  Captain  Ryrie  backed  his 
mainyards  and  let  the  Maitland  pass  him  again, 
then  refilling,  he  again  weathered  on  her  and  again 
sailed  past  her  to  windward  without  any  difficulty. 
This  is  the  manoeuvre  which  is  the  origin  of  the 
term  "sailing  round  a  vessel,"  and  it  is  undoubtedly 
the  most  humiliating  dressing  down  that  one  vessel 
can  give  another.  This  experience,  coming  right 
on  top  of  Robinson's  sarcasm,  must  have  taken 
most  of  the  starch  out  of  Captain  Coulson's 
braggart  spirit. 

The  winds  this  year  were  abnormally  strong  in 
the  Atlantic,  especially  the  S.E.  trades,  which  were 
blowing  an  easterly  gale  off  Ascension  when  Black 
Prince  passed  the  island. 

When  in  12°  N.  and  expecting  the  N.E.  trades. 
Black  Prince,  after  a  squally,  variable  night,  was 
caught  aback  at  4  a.m.  by  a  sudden  burst  of  wind 
from  the  norrard,  which  was  strong  enough  to  make 
her  furl  topgallant  sails.  At  daylight  the  wind 
came  away  south  again  with  a  most  unaccountably 
nasty  sea  and  thick  weather.  All  that  morning  she 
was  passing  through  a  fleet  of  outward  bounders 


252  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

carrying  very  low  sail,  some  of  them  with  only  a 
main  topsail  set. 

At  lo  a.m.  a  vessel  was  descried  steering  north 
under  a  couple  of  topsails  and  foresail ;  but  on 
getting  a  better  sight  of  her,  those  on  the  Black 
Prince  saw  that  her  jibboom  was  gone  and  that  her 
topgallant  masts  with  all  their  gear  were  lying 
across  the  backstays. 

By  1 1  o'clock  the  Baring  clipper  was  along- 
side the  cripple,  which  proved  to  be  her  rival 
Taitsing. 

It  appeared  that  at  4  a.m.  when  Black  Prince 
was  caught  aback  in  an  ordinary  squall,  Taitsing, 
20  miles  to  the  north  of  her,  was  dismasted  by  a 
tornado  of  great  violence,  which  accounted  for  the 
low  sail  carried  by  the  outward  bounders  and  the 
choppy  sea.  Captain  Inglis  offered  assistance,  but 
none  being  required  the  Black  Prince  went  ahead 
and  soon  dropped  Taitsing  below  the  horizon. 

Nutsford  soon  had  his  clipper  re-rigged  and  a 
day  or  so  later  fell  in  with  the  Flying  Spur,  and 
both  vessels  were  some  days  in  company  in  doldrum 
weather  on  the  edge  of  the  N.E.  trades.  Black 
Prince  being  somewhere  just  behind  the  horizon. 

The  tornado  had  evidently  upset  the  weather, 
but  when  the  trades  did  come  along.  Flying  Spur 
went  ahead  and  eventually  arrived  in  London  five 
days  ahead  of  her  rivals. 

We  will  now  return  to  Ariel,  which  only  arrived 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  253 

at  the  Pagoda  Anchorage  on  6th  June,  and  was  the 
last  starter  but  two  from  Foochow. 

After  her  record  outward  passage  she  had  been 
sent  up  to  Yokohama  against  the  N.E.  monsoon, 
and  then  on  her  return  to  Hong  Kong  found 
orders  to  proceed  to  Saigon ;  this  made  her  late  in 
arriving  at  Foochow. 

She  finished  loading  her  tea  at  9  a.m.  on  12  th 
June  and  proceeded  down  the  river  in  tow  of  the 
screw  steamer  Undine.  At  9.30  a.m.  on  13th  June 
the  pilot  was  dropped,  the  steamer  cast  off  and  she 
headed  away  S.S.E.  under  all  possible  sail.  At 
first  she  had  light,  baffling  southerly  winds,  but  on 
1 8th  June  she  ran  into  a  heavy  S.S.E.  gale  which 
lasted  with  very  high  sea  until  noon  of  the  19th, 
when  light  southerly  airs  and  calms  set  in  again. 

On  27th  June,  Ariel  caught  up  the  first  of  the 
racers  which  had  sailed  before  her,  the  Black 
Prince,  which  she  signalled.  This  vessel  she 
dropped  astern  and  to  leeward  without  any  difficulty. 

On  the  night  of  the  2^th  Ariel  had  a  narrow 
escape  of  being  run  down  by  the  unfortunate 
Titania  as  I  have  already  related,  and  from  this 
date  she  had  the  usual  succession  of  faint  airs  and 
calms  as  far  as  Anjer,  which  she  passed  at  9.30  a.m. 
on  9th  July,  26  days  out.  This  was  by  no  means 
a  good  start.  Taeping  had  passed  Anjer  13  days 
before  on  26th  June,  only  22  days  out,  which  was 
the  fastest  time  made  that  season. 


254  THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS 

Ariel,  though  not  making  such  good  times  as  on 
the  previous  homeward  passage,  continued  to  catch 
up  and  pass  the  ships  which  had  started  ahead  of  her. 
On  loth  July,  with  a  fine  S.S.E.  trade,  she  sighted 
a  tea  ship  at  daybreak  on  her  starboard  bow.  This 
turned  out  to  be  Serica,  which  had  sailed  1 1  days 
ahead.  At  1 1  p.m.  that  night  Ariel  was  up  with 
her  and  so  close  that  Captain  Keay  hailed  but 
got  no  answer. 

"  Must  be  unwell  or  in  the  sulks  at  our  beating 
him,"  was  Keay's  comment  in  his  journal. 

All  the  next  day  Serica  continued  to  drop  astern 
at  about  half  a  mile  an  hour,  until  at  5  p.m.  her 
royals  were  only  just  visible  above  the  horizon. 

Three  days  later  Ariel  passed  White  Adder, 
sighting  her  at  7  a.m.  and  signalling  her  at  noon ; 
and  at  7  a.m.  on  15th  July,  just  24  hours  after  being 
sighted  ahead,  the  Willis  clipper  disappeared  below 
the  horizon  astern. 

On  1 6th  July  Ariel  made  her  best  run — 320  miles. 
She  passed  Mauritius  on  23rd  July  and  rounded  the 
Cape  on  8th  August  in  an  N.N.E.  gale.  She  had 
taken  56  days  from  Foochow  to  the  Cape,  ten  days 
longer  than  in  1866. 

Owing  to  the  strong  trades,  the  ships  had  a  better 
run  up  the  Atlantic  this  year  than  in  1866,  and  if 
only  y^r/e/had  made  as  good  a  time  to  the  Cape  as 
she  had  done  on  her  previous  passage,  she  would 
have  been  home  in  92  days.      She  passed  west  of 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  255 

St.  Helena  on  i8th  August,  ten  days  from  the  Cape; 
and  two  days  later  overhauled  Belted  Will,  which 
had  been  nine  days  ahead  at  Sunda  Strait.  At 
daylight  on  20th  August  Belted  Will  was  sighted 
ahead  on  AriePs  port  bow,  and  at  10  a.m.  on 
the  2 1st  she  went  out  of  sight  on  the  latter's 
starboard  quarter. 

On  25th  August  Ariel  crossed  the  equator. 

On  Sunday,  ^th  September,  at  daylight  Ariel 
sighted  a  ship  right  astern  with  a  Jamie  Green  and 
other  tea  clipper  kites  set,  which  was  thought  to  be 
Fiery  Cross.  However,  this  was  a  mistake  as 
Captain  Keay  found  out  when  he  signalled  Fiery 
Cross  a  week  later.  The  wind  was  baffling  and  all 
round  the  compass,  but  in  the  afternoon  the  unknown 
racer  astern  dropped  out  of  sight. 

On  15th  September  Ariel  came  up  with  Fiery 
Cross,  which  was  3  miles  ahead  at  daylight.  The 
two  ships  exchanged  signals  and  compared  Green- 
wich time.  The  wind  was  fresh  from  E.S.E.  with 
strong  gusts,  both  vessels  were  braced  sharp  up  on 
the  starboard  tack  with  royals  and  staysails  fast,  and 
it  was  soon  evident  that  on  this  point  of  sailing 
there  was  little  to  choose  between  the  two,  Ariel 
only  managing  to  weather  and  head  reach  on  Fiery 
Cross  a  mile  or  so,  though  the  former's  run  for  the 
24  hours  was  260  miles.  It  took  Ariel  five  days  to 
shake  off  the  wonderful  veteran.  On  the  17th  she 
had  run  Fiery  Cross's  hull  down  astern,  but  at  8  a-m. 


lo  days  fronr 
3 

Cape  Meridian 
St.  Helena 

4 

Ascension 

7 
10           „ 

9 

Equator 

Cape  Verd  Islands 

Flores,  Azores 

256  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

on  the  following  day,  the  latter  bobbed  up  again, 
passing  3  or  4  miles  to  leeward  of  Ariel  on  the 
opposite  tack.  After  this  Captain  Keay  saw  her  no 
more  and  eventually  arrived  24  hours  ahead. 

On  Friday,  20th  September,  at  6.30  p.m.,  Ariel 
made  the  Bishop  Light,  43  days  from  the  Cape  and 
99  from  Foochow.  The  following  is  an  abstract  of 
her  splendid  run  from  the  Cape  to  soundings  : — 

Passed  St.  Helena,  Aug.   i8     - 
,,       Ascension,  ,,      21 

„       Equator,  „      25 

„  Cape  Verd  Isls.,  Sept.  I 
„  Flores,  Azores,  „  II 
,,        Scillies,  ,,      20 

This  was  eight  days  better  than  her  1866  time  for 
the  same  run,  but  her  passage  had  been  spoilt  by 
poor  winds  in  the  Indian  Ocean. 

Whilst  Ariel  and  Fiery  Cross  were  beating  up  for 
the  Scillies  against  south-easterly  and  easterly  winds, 
Captain  Robinson  was  sending  Sir  Lancelot  along  a 
clean  full  and  by.  He  was  one  of  those  skippers  who 
did  not  mind  additional  mileage  if  he  could  only  keep 
his  ship  moving,  and  he  had  a  great  objection  to 
jamming  the  yards  hard  on  the  backstays  if  it  could 
possibly  be  avoided.  Thus,  under  him,  Sir  Lancelot 
was  never  pinched  or  jammed  in  the  wind's  eye.  On 
19th  September  he  made  the  Mizen  Head,  96  days 
out  from  Shanghai.  Then,  beating  across  from 
Ireland,  passed  to  the  norrard  of  the  Scillies  whilst 
Ariel  was  passing  to  the  southard. 

Captain  Robinson's  navigation  on  the  night   of 


THE   CHINA    CUPPERS  257 

the  20th  was  so  daring  as  to  scare  his  crew.  Ac- 
cording to  the  account  given  by  Sir  Lancelot's 
carpenter,  there  was  great  excitement  amongst  the 
men,  and  more  than  one  grizzled  old  deep-water 
shell-back  shook  his  head  and  asked,  "Where  the 
hell's  the  old  man  taking  us  ?  " 

Passing  between  the  Scillies  and  Land's  End, 
Robinson  beat  to  windward  of  the  Seven  Stones 
Lightship  and  the  Wolf  Rock.  Luckily,  it  was  a 
clear  moonlight  night  and  a  smooth  sea,  the  wind 
being  light  though  ahead.  And  so  successful  was 
this  piece  of  navigation  that  Sir  Lancelot,  cutting 
out  Ariel  by  some  hours,  passed  the  Lizard  before 
daylight  on  the  21st  and  went  romping  up  Channel 
with  a  fine  off-shore  wind. 

Ariel  passed  within  i\  miles  of  the  Lizard  Point 
at  daylight,  but  was  not  so  well  favoured  as  to  wind, 
which  by  that  time  had  dropped  away  to  a  faint  air. 

All  that  day  the  two  ships  crowded  sail  up 
Channel,  the  wind  being  westerly  and  very  light  until 
noon,  after  which  it  freshened  to  a  moderate  breeze. 

Sir  Lancelot  made  Deal  early  on  the  22nd,  99 

days  out  from  Shanghai ;  Ariel,  not  quite  so  well 

served   by   the   wind,    got   her   pilot  just   east    of 

Dungeness  at  2  p.m.  on  the  same  day,  and  towing  all 

night  with  two  tugs  ahead,  hauled  into  the   East 

India  Dock  at  7  p.m.  on  the  23rd,  exactly  102  days 

from   Foochow.  *  Though,  she  had  made  the  best 

passage  from  Foochow  and  beaten  the  Taeping  by  five 
s 


258  THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS 

hours  on  time,  her  success  was  overshadowed  by  the 
splendid  performance  of  her  sister  ship,  Sir  Lancelot. 

At  last  the  enterprise  of  Sir  Lancelots  owners 
was  rewarded,  and  their  vessel  in  one  bound  at  the 
head  of  the  racing  fleet,  her  reputation  made. 

That  she  was  really  faster  than  either  Ariel  or 
Titania  I  do  not  believe,  but  one  thing  is  certain. 
Captain  Robinson  was  the  sail  carrier  amongst  a 
fleet  of  sail  carriers  and  got  the  last  ounce  of  speed 
out  of  his  vessel. 

Taeping,  though  she  did  not  make  the  best  time, 
had  the  satisfaction  of  getting  her  teas  on  the  market 
a  week  before  the  next  arrival.  Captain  M'Kinnon, 
the  hero  of  1866,  had  died  on  the  voyage  out,  but 
his  place  was  ably  filled  by  Captain  Dowdy. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  no  less  than  seven  of  the 
tea  ships  docked  in  London  on  the  same  day,  one  of 
which  was  the  Yangtze.  This  ship  made  the  best 
time  of  the  seven,  though  she  was  admitted  to  be 
the  slowest  of  them  all.  And  it  was  this  perform- 
ance which  made  Captain  Kemball's  reputation  and 
brought  him  to  the  notice  of  Messrs.  Thompson  of 
the  Aberdeen  Clipper  Line,  and  thus  gained  him  the 
command  of  the  celebrated  Thermopylae  in  1868. 
He  was  one  of  those  skippers  who  was  not  afraid 
of  a  narrow  rock-studded  channel,  and  on  one 
occasion  took  the  Yangtze  through  Atlas  Strait  by 
moonlight  when  the  wind  was  unfavourable  for  the 
Ombay  Passage. 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  259 

The  Tea  CUppers  built  in  1867-"  Spindrift," 
"Lahloo,"  "Leander,"  and  "Undine." 

The  success  of  the  sister  ships  Ariel  and  Sir 
Lancelot  was  not  long  to  remain  undisputed, 
especially  with  such  keen  racing  owners  as  Rodger 
and  Findlay  in  the  field. 

During  the  year  1867  four  new  cracks  were  being 
built — Spindrift  for  Findlay,  Lahloo  for  Rodger, 
Leander  for  Joseph  Somes,  and  Undine  for  J.  R. 
Kelso.  Spindrift  came  from  Connell's  yard.  In 
design  she  was  somewhat  of  a  new  departure, 
especially  in  the  way  of  more  length,  being  22  feet 
longer  than  Sir  Lancelot,  though  their  tonnage 
difference  was  only  13  tons.  Indeed,  she  had  more 
beams  to  length  than  any  vessel  launched  for  the 
tea  trade  since  the  famous  Lord  of  the  Isles,  the 
proportions  being: — 

Lord  of  the  Isles,    -        -  -        6'89. 

Spindrift,  6-17. 

In  fact,  Spindrift  had  more  beams  to  length  than 
any  other  clipper  built  of  wood. 

She  also  had  one  of  the  largest  sail  plans  in  the 
tea  trade,  and  was  nicknamed  the  "Giblet  Pie," 
being  "all  legs  and  wings." 

These  two  factors  gave  her  great  speed  in  reach- 
ing winds,  and  she  may  be  reckoned  as  one  of  the 
fastest  of  all  the  tea  clippers.  Findlay,  whose 
ambitions  had  not  been  realised  in  Taitsing,  was 
delighted  with  his  new  ship  and  her  premature  end 
broke  his  heart. 


260  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Lahloo  was  a   very   different   and   less   extreme 
vessel.      Rodger,  in  spite  of  the  success  of  Ariel 
and  Sir  Lancelot,  still  clung  to  the  old  single  top- 
sails, and  Lahloo  was  an  enlarged   and   improved 
Taeping. 

Like  all  Steele's  creations  she  was  a  very  beauti- 
ful and  taking  vessel  to  look  at,  crossing  the  dainty 
skysail-yard  at  the  main,  a  feature  which,  to  my 
mind,  always  gave  a  full-rig  ship  a  thorough- 
bred look. 

She  was  launched  on  23rd  July,  1867,  her  builder's 
measurements  being : — 


Length  of  keel  and  fore-rake,  - 

190  feet 

Breadth  of  beam,     - 

33    .. 

Depth  of  hold. 

20    ,, 

Tonnage 

98sli 

She  was  commanded  by  John  Smith,  one  of  those 
daring  skippers  who  carried  sail  and  was  not  afraid 
of  a  reef-studded  passage. 

Leander  was  designed  by  Bernard  Waymouth, 
the  well-known  naval  architect  and  secretary  of 
Lloyd's  Register,  and  was  built  by  Lawrie  of 
Glasgow  for  the  famous  firm  of  Joseph  Somes. 

In  design  she  was  right  up  to  date,  and  should 
have  made  a  great  reputation  as  she  was  undoubtedly 
an  exceedingly  fast  ship.  But  she  was  unfortunate 
in  having  one  of  those  captains  who  was  too  fond 
of  his  grog. 

Her  first  passage  out  to  China  was  an  exceedingly 
fast  one,  96  days  to  Shanghai ;  this  seems  to  have 


o 
o 

< 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  261 

turned  her  commander's  head,  and  from  the  day  of 
his  arrival  to  the  day  he  sailed  he  never  missed 
an  opportunity  of  celebrating  it  in  the  fashion  of 
the  coast. 

One  anecdote  will  suffice  to  show  his  way  of  life 
and  the  reason  why  Leander  did  not  do  as  well  as 
she  should  have  done. 

During  the  intermediate  passages,  the  Lord 
Macaulay  arrived  at  Foochow  to  load  poles  for 
Shanghai,  and  found  Leander  lying  there  already 
loaded,  with  the  Blue  Peter  flying,  whilst  a  big 
champagne  luncheon  was  going  on  aboard  of  her. 

The  festive  skipper  of  Somes'  ship  at  once  sent 
across  to  ask  Captain  Care  to  join  his  party,  but  the 
latter  excused  himself  on  the  plea  of  having  to  go 
ashore  and  report*  his  ship.  But  it  was  not  easy  to 
make  the  Leander s  "old  man"  take  no  for  an  answer 
and  Care  only  escaped  a  carouse  by  rowing  ashore. 

The  days  passed  and  Leander  still  lay  all  ready 
for  sea,  whilst  daily  beanfeasts  took  place  aboard. 
At  last  the  Lord  Macaulay  loaded  and  sailed,  and 
still  Leander  lay  to  her  anchors.  Then  when  her 
skipper  did  at  last  think  of  moving,  he  was  in  such 
a  reckless  mood  that  he  attempted  to  take  his  clipper 
through  a  channel  in  the  river  which  was  so  narrow 
and  rock  strewn  as  to  be  only  possible  to  shallow- 
draft  junks.  However  it  was  a  short  cut  and  that 
was  good  enough  for  the  dare-devil  captain  of  the 
Leander. 


262  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

As  was  only  to  be  expected,  he  stuck  on  a  ledge 
of  rocks,  and  scraped  a  good  deal  of  false  keel  and 
copper  away  in  kedging  his  ship  off  again.  Indeed 
it  was  only  by  sheer  good  fortune  that  Leander  did 
not  leave  her  bones  on  the  reef  for  good  and  all. 
There  was,  of  course,  an  inquiry,  but  the  culprit 
contended  that  he  had  struck  some  sunken  wreckage, 
which  story  the  Court  was  good  enough  to  swallow 
and  therefore  refrained  from  dealing  with  his  ticket. 

Leander  was  patched  up  in  time  to  load  at 
Shanghai,  though  not  in  time  to  race  from  Foochow 
with  the  other  cracks. 

Undine,  another  effort  from  the  famous  yard  of 
Pile  of  Sunderland,  was  a  fine  fast  little  ship,  and 
though  not  quite  equal  to  the  other  three  1867 
clippers,  was  certainly  a  great  improvement  on 
Maitland. 

The  Tea  Race  of  1868. 

With  four  new  ships  and  all  the  old  cracks 
tuned  up  to  the  limit  of  efficiency,  the  tea  race  of 
1868  was  one  of  the  most  keenly  contested  of  the 
whole  series. 

In  the  intermediate  passages  there  were  many 
opportunities  of  testing  the  ships  against  one  an- 
other ;  and  in  these  Ariel,  especially,  maintained  her 
reputation.  Leaving  London  on  the  22  nd  October, 
1867,  she  went  out  to  Shanghai  in  106  days,  beating 
her  old  rival  Taeping  by  five  days.  Again,  on  the 
coast  in  a  passage  from  Saigon  to  Hong  Kong  the 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 


263 


II 

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264  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

two  vessels  had  a  very  even  match,  their  times,  pilot 
to  moorings,  being 

Ariel  4  days  20  hours 

Taeping  4    „     23      ,, 

From  Hong  Kong  they  went  on  to  Foochow  to 
load  tea,  and  once  more  Ariel  beat  Taeping  by  a 
few  hours,  and  anchored  off  Pagoda  Island  on  1 5th 
May,  78  hours  from  Hong  Kong  harbour. 

Spindrift  and  Lahloo  both  showed  that  they  were 
worth  reckoning  with  by  their  speed  on  rice  passages 
up  the  coast.  Spindrift,  though,  nearly  finished  her 
career  by  getting  aground  off  Cape  St.  James,  but 
was  luckily  refloated  without  damage. 

The  competition  to  be  first  ship  away  from 
Foochow  was  consequently  very  keen  again  this 
year,  and  the  start  was  a  good  one,  the  first  three 
ships,  Ariel,  Taeping  and  Sir  Lancelot,  crossing  the 
bar  together,  with  Spindrift  one  day,  and  Lahloo 
two  days,  behind. 

At  2.25  p.m.  on  28th  May,  the  three  leaders 
dropped  their  pilots  outside  the  bar  and  made  all 
plain  sail  on  a  wind,  Sir  Lancelot  having  a  slight 
lead  of  Ariel  and  Taeping  bringing  up  the  rear. 
At  2.45  p.m.  Ariel  passed  Sir  Lancelot,  after  which 
the  two  ships  were  separated  by  Turnabout  Island, 
Ariel  taking  the  north  side  and  Sir  Lancelot  the 
south.  On  29th  May  the  wind  had  dropped  away 
to  nothing,  and  the  ships  were  scarcely  steering. 
Sir  Lancelot  was  ahead  at  midnight,  but  towards 
morning  on  the  30th  Ariel  passed  her  again  and, 


'LE 


THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS  265 

with  a  very  light  N.E.  wind,  gradually  left  her 
astern.  By  5  p.m.  on  31st  May  Ariel  had  run  Sir 
Lancelot  out  of  sight,  and  the  two  ships  saw  no 
more  of  each  other  during  the  race. 

Meanwhile  Taeping,  Spindrift  and  Lahloo,  served 
with  better  winds,  had  been  closing  up  on  the  leaders 
and  on  the  9th  of  June,  when  in  12°  36'  N.,  1 10°  E., 
with  a  light  S.S.W.  breeze,  -^rz'^/ discovered  Taeping 
and  Spindrift  to  windward  of  her.  At  the  same 
time  Undine  showed  up  10  miles  to  windward  of  the 
other  three. 

The  Spindrift  had  come  along  with  good  winds 
whilst  Ariel  had  had  squalls  and  faint  baffling  airs 
and  north-easterly  sea  on  the  ist,  and  and  3rd  of  June. 

On  Wednesday,  the  loth  of  June,  the  four  ships 
were  still  close  together,  and  I  find  the  following 
entry  in  Captain  Keay's  abstract : — 

"  I  p.m.,  in  stays,  was  taken  aback  with  a  severe 
squall  and  rain  in  torrents — blew  away  fore  and  main 
topgallant  sails  and  royals,  flying  jib  and  mizen 
staysail.  Spindrift  came  up  and  passed  us,  but  we 
seemed  to  gain  on  her  directly  our  fore  and  main 
topgallant  sails  were  set  again.  They  then  tacked 
and  passed  some  \\  miles  more  to  leeward.  Can 
beat  her  on  a  wind  certain." 

On  the  nth  and  12th  of  June  very  squally  weather 
was  experienced,  and  split  sails  were  the  order  of 
the  day.  At  10  a.m.  on  the  nth  Ariel  weathered 
Undine  by  about  2  miles. 


266  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

On  the  13th  of  June  another  of  the  racers,  Lahloo, 
appeared  in  sight  to  windward  of  the  leader,  Ariel, 
and  in  the  afternoon  Captain  Keay  remarks  : — 

"Lahloo  same  bearing,  not  so  far  to  windward. 
Took  in  our  main  topgallant,  royal  and  sky  staysails 
and  we  seemed  to  gain  on  her." 

On  the  14th,  with  the  Borneo  Coast  in  sight,  Ariel 
passed  within  hail  of  Lahloo  and  then  steadily 
dropped  her  astern.  However,  Lahloo  hung  on  to 
her  great  rival  and  could  still  be  seen  astern  on  the 
evening  of  the  15th. 

The  1 8th  of  June  found  Ariel  and  Spindrift 
beating  through  the  Api  Passage  together.  At  3 
p.m.,  with  a  light  S.W.  breeze,  they  weathered  Api 
Point,  the  Ariel  slowly  gaining. 

Both  ships  headed  inshore  towards  sunset  in  order 
to  catch  the  land  breeze,  but  Captain  Keay  was  the 
most  daring,  for  whilst  Spindrift  went  about  when 
fairly  close  in  for  fear  of  getting  ashore,  Ariel  kept 
on  with  the  lead  going  until  midnight  when,  with 
only  9  fathoms  under  her,  she  caught  the  first  breath 
of  the  land  wind  and,  going  about,  stole  a  march  on 
Spindrift,  whose  port  light  could  be  seen  as  she  lay 
becalmed  in  the  ofifing.  Captain  Keay  had  run  it 
close  enough,  for  the  next  three  casts  of  the  lead 
gave  5,  4^,  and  4  fathoms,  but  his  daring  paid,  as 
the  advantage  gained  over  Spindrift  gave  him  a 
lead  of  19  hours  at  Anjer. 

On  19th  June,  when  on  the  line,  Ariel  sighted  a 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  267 

clipper,  supposed  to  be  the  Belted  Will,  6  miles  to 
windward,  and  another  further  off  to  the  S.S.E., 
and  at  7  p.m.  on  the  20th  she  hailed  a  ship  bound 
the  same  way,  but  could  not  catch  her  reply.  At 
3  a.m.  on  21st  June,  Ariel  sighted  Rotterdam 
Island  on  the  port  bow,  hauled  up  south  to  within 
a  mile,  then  steered  along  the  east  side  of  the 
Stolzes  Channel  within  a  mile  of  the  shore  under 
all  sail  and  fetched  right  through.  That  night 
with  a  fresh  S.W.  breeze  she  cut  right  through 
the  westernmost  of  the  Thousand  Islands  Group, 
a  most  daring  piece  of  navigation,  which  was 
rewarded  by  her  being  the  first  ship  to  pass  Anjer, 
25  days  out,  though  Sir  Lancelot  was  only  a  few 
hours  behind. 

Meanwhile  Black  Prince  and  S erica  had  been 
running  as  close  a  race  as  the  leaders,  Serica 
picked  up  the  Black  Prince  off  the  Natunas,  and 
showed  the  crew  of  the  Baring  clipper  a  superb  sea 
picture  as  she  crossed  the  latter's  bows  in  a  fresh 
breeze  with  every  sail  set  to  perfection,  from  Jimmy 
Green  and  jib-o'-jib  to  the  ringtail. 

However,  the  two  ships  proved  to  be  very  evenly 
matched  and  were  constantly  in  company  right  down 
to  Anjer.  In  the  Straits  of  Sunda  Serica  took  the 
lead  and  went  right  away,  a  good  example  being 
given  of  how  necessary  it  was  to  take  advantage  of 
every  little  flaw  of  wind. 

The   trade   wind    may   usually   be    expected   to 


268  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

come  along  off  Krakatoa.  Serica  was  hull  down 
ahead  of  Black  Prince  at  this  point.  A  squall  came 
ofif  the  island,  Serica  heeled  to  it  and  headed  gaily 
away  for  Mauritius.  It  was  the  first  breath  of  the 
trade,  and  she  carried  it  right  away  and  made  a 
very  quick  run  to  the  Cape. 

Meanwhile  the  timid  Black  Prince  put  her  helm 
up  and  ran  away  before  it  until  the  strength  of  the 
squall  had  eased,  then  when  she  did  finally  haul  to 
the  wind,  she  was  too  far  to  leeward,  the  breeze  fell 
away  and  she  was  soon  lying  becalmed,  whilst  her 
crew  had  the  chagrin  of  watching  Serica  sink  sail 
after  sail  over  the  horizon.  Then  for  a  couple  of 
days  she  lay  in  sight  of  Java  Head  in  a  clock  calm, 
a  very  unusual  experience  at  that  season  of  the  year. 
But  the  consequences  of  this  waste  of  opportunity 
and  excess  of  caution  went  still  further  than  this,  for 
Serica  rounded  the  Cape  before  a  series  of  westerly 
gales  set  in,  which  kept  Black  Prince  dodging  under 
reefed  topsails  for  a  week. 

A  curious  accident  happened  to  Black  Prince  on 
the  run  from  Anjer  to  the  Cape.  She  was  struck 
by  a  swordfish.  Attention  was  first  drawn  to  the 
fact  by  the  appearance  of  what  seemed  to  be  a  bolt 
projecting  from  the  side  of  the  ship  just  abreast  of 
the  foremast  and  8  inches  below  the  water  line. 
This  proved  to  be  the  bony  sword,  which  had  pierced 
through  the  copper  sheathing  and  teak  planking  and 
only  been  stopped  by  the  iron  frame.     The  fish  had 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  269 

actually  left  8  inches  of  its  sword  sticking  in  the 
side  of  the  Black  Prince. 

We  will  now  leave  Black  Prince  and  return  to  the 
leaders,  whom  we  had  followed  as  far  as  Anjer. 

In  the  run  from  Anjer  to  the  Cape  AHel  still 
maintained  a  slight  lead  of  the  others  ;  crossing  the 
trades  she  did  the  following  fine  performance  : — 

June  28,  330  miles 

■  ,     29,  315      „ 

>>     30.  314     ,> 

Her  week's  run  was  just  under  2000  miles. 

She  passed  Mauritius  on  the  4th  of  July,  12  days 
from  Anjer,  and  on  the  19th  of  July  rounded  the 
Cape  in  terrible  weather. 

On  the  17th  of  July  the  wind  rose  to  a  gale,  and 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  i8th  blew  a  hurricane  from 
S.W.  with  a  terrific  cross  sea,  which  was  made  all 
the  worse  by  the  Agulhas  current.  Though  buried 
and  swept  fore  and  aft  by  every  sea,  the  gallant  little 
ship  behaved  nobly,  shaking  herself  clear  of  the 
cataracts  of  water  like  a  duck. 

At  8  p.m.  on  i8th  July  the  gale  lulled  right  away 
to  a  calm,  only  to  break  out  again  an  hour  later  more 
furious  than  ever.  It  caught  Ariel  under  fore  and 
mizen  staysails,  fore  and  main  upper  topsails  and 
reefed  foresail. 

Notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  all  hands,  the  fore- 
sail could  not  be  made  fast,  and  the  main  upper 
topsail,  also,  could  only  be  hauled  up  as  close  as 
possible   with   the   spilling    lines   and    reef-tackles, 


270  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

whilst  the  stout  storm  staysail  on  the  mizen  stay- 
split  from  head  to  foot  and  had  to  be  secured. 
Indeed  it  was  only  after  a  battle  of  hours  that  the 
gaskets  were  at  last  put  upon  the  fore  upper  topsail. 

All  this  time  the  ship  was  running  to  the  N.W. 
with  the  wind  a  point  or  two  abaft  the  beam.  The 
Ariel  steered  beautifully,  and  only  one  man  was 
needed  at  the  helm,  though  a  lee  wheel  was  kept 
handy  in  case  the  helmsman  should  be  overpowered 
or  swept  from  his  post  by  the  cascading  seas.  Some 
idea  of  the  amount  of  water  on  deck  may  be  obtained 
by  noticing  the  damage  done.  The  binnacle  light 
was  washed  out ;  the  long  boat  stove  ;  side  of  mid- 
ship house  burst  in  ;  spare  spars  set  adrift ;  a  lanyard 
in  the  fore-rigging  cut  through  by  the  fore-tack ; 
hencoops  and  fowls  washed  overboard  together  with 
gratings  and  all  kinds  of  gear ;  break  of  monkey 
poop  and  bulwarks  stove  and  one  of  the  ports  gone, 
not  to  speak  of  minor  casualties  too  numerous 
to  mention. 

On  the  19th  the  strength  of  the  wind  began  slowly 
to  abate,  but  the  sea  grew  still  more  mountainous 
and  confused.  However,  by  dusk  the  gale  had  taken 
off  sufficienriy  to  allow  Captain  Keay  to  make  sail. 

Whilst  Ariel  was  fighting  for  her  life,  Taeping, 
close  astern  of  her,  but  not  in  sight,  was  also 
battling  with  the  elements,  both  ships  rounding  the 
Cape  the  same  day. 

Spindrift   also  was   close  on  Ariel's  heels  and, 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  271 

making  a  more  westerly  course  from  the  Cape, 
caught  up  with  her  antagonist  and  crossed  the 
equator  on  5th  August,  one  day  ahead  of  Ariel, 
whose  time  from  the  Cape  to  the  line  was  18  days. 
On  5th  and  6th  August  Ariel  had  an  interesting 
encounter  with  the  Dundee  clipper  Corona.  This 
was  a  notably  fast  ship  of  12 10  tons,  very  squarely 
rigged,  with  huge  lower  stunsails  set  from  the  lower 
topsail  yards.  / 

Signals  between  the  two  ships  were  exchanged  at 
6  a.m.  on  5th  August,  Corona  being  63  days  out  from 
Bombay,  homeward  bound  with  troops  and  in  good 
trim  for  showing  her  best  paces.  The  S.E.  trade 
was  slowly  dropping  away,  and  in  the  light  follow- 
ing wind  the  Corona  held  on  well  to  the  famous 
tea  clipper,  being  still  in  sight  on  6th  August,  8 
miles  astern. 

On  the  1 2th  of  August  Spindrift,  Ariel,  Taeping, 
and  Lahloo  were  close  together  in  doldrum  weather. 

Taeping  sighted  Spindrift  to  the  E.S.E.  early 
in  the  morning,  and  later  in  the  day  fell  in  with 
Lahloo  and  Ariel,  Lahloo  being  the  windward  and 
Ariel  the  leeward  ship.  On  the  following  day  at 
sunrise  Taeping  found  herself  4  miles  dead  to  wind- 
ward of  Ariel,  and  Lahloo  was  hull  down  on  Ariel's 
weather  beam,  a  light  N.E,  trade  blowing.  As  the 
trade  increased,  Ariel  gradually  went  ahead  of 
Taeping,  but  the  new  flyer  Lahloo  reached  and 
weathered   on   both    of   them.      On    15th   August 


272  THE    CHINA    CUPPERS 

Ariel  had  run  Taeping's  lower  yards  down  on  her  lee 
quarter  but  Lahloo  was  out  of  sight  to  windward. 
At  7  a.m.  Taeping  bore  S.W.  \  S.  from  Af^el,  her 
main  topsail  yard  dipping,  but  4  hours  later  the 
wind  Ariel  was  holding  suddenly  broke  off  to  west, 
and  Taeping,  carrying  the  true  wind,  neared  her 
rival  by  2  or  3  miles.  On  the  17th  at  6  a.m, 
Taeping  was  still  to  be  seen,  clinging  to  AriePs 
skirts,  hull  down  from  the  mizen  crosstrees,  but  by 
II,  under  the  influence  of  a  fine  E.N.E.  breeze, 
Ariel  at  last  managed  to  sink  her  old  antagonist 
below  the  horizon. 

Ariel,  the  leader,  made  a  fine  run  of  7  days  from 
Cape  Verd  to  the  Western  Isles,  which  she  passed 
on  2 1st  August,  one  day  ahead  of  Spindrift.  At 
4  a.m.  on  31st  August,  the  Lizard  lights  were 
sighted  from  Ariel's  topsail  yard.  She  had  a  very 
light  westerly  wind  for  the  run  up  Channel, 
but  managed  to  get  her  pilot  at  Dungeness  at 
11.30  p.m.  on  1st  September,  96  days  from  pilot  to 
pilot,  and  docked  next  day  at  i  p.m.  97  days  out. 
For  the  second  time  Captain  Keay  had  brought  his 
ship  in  first  with  the  new  season's  teas. 

But  though  there  was  no  close  racing  up  Channel 
this  year,  the  finish  was  as  close  as  ever,  for  both 
Spindrift  and  Sir  Lancelot  docked  the  tide  after 
Ariel,  getting  through  the  dock  gates  just  before 
midnight  on  2nd  September.  As  Spindrift  had 
sailed  23  hours  after  Ariel,  she  was  considered  the 


"THERMOPYLAE"   RACING   WITH    "CUTTY   SARK.' 


SPINDRIFT. 


I  Tn    f,„r  /'«,/,' 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  273 

winner  of  the  race.  Taeping  and  Lahloo^  which 
had  been  up  alongside  the  leaders  a  fortnight 
before,  dropped  back  in  the  last  stretch  or  the  finish 
should  have  been  a  very  close  thing  between  the 
five  cracks. 

Meanwhile  far  away  behind  the  leaders,  the  old 
favourites  Serica  and  Fiery  Cross  were  not  making 
such  good  passages.  Fiery  Cross  especially  had 
been  caught  like  Black  Prince  by  the  unusual  calm 
spell  in  Sunda  Straits  and  the  bad  weather  off  the 
Cape.  The  two  clippers  met  in  12°  N.,  and  Captain 
Inglis  actually  visited  Captain  Beckett  of  the  Fiery 
Cross,  nothing  dismayed  by  a  4-mile  pull  in  a  blazing 
sun.  After  this  the  ships  were  together  in  doldrum 
weather  for  over  a  week. 

At  last  after  a  heavy  westerly  gale  the  Black 
Prince  found  herself  on  soundings  in  the  chops  of 
the  Channel.  The  wind  was  dead  aft,  but  though  it 
fell  away  in  the  night,  no  sail  was  made,  and  it  was 
not  until  daylight  that  the  cautious  Inglis  started  to 
shake  the  reef  out  of  the  main  topsail.  The  crew 
were  aloft  doing  this  when  an  outward  bound  ship 
came  across  her  stern.  This  proved  to  be  the  Ariel 
plunging  to  the  southward  close  on  a  wind,  with 
only  a  single  reef  in  her  topsails.  She  actually  had 
more  canvas  set  on  a  wind  than  the  Black  Prince 
had  running,  and  this  incident  was  a  standing  joke 
against  the  leisurely  methods  of  the  "whipper  in" 
for  ever  after. 


274  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

The  Black  Prince  arrived  off  the  Ness  on  29th 
September,  and  hove-to  all  night  for  a  pilot.  It 
was  blowing  hard  and  on  the  following  day  she 
again  brought  up  for  4  or  5  hours  in  Margate 
Roads,  nearly  losing  an  anchor  in  the  operation. 
And  whilst  the  Black  Prince  was  getting  under- 
weigh  again,  the  Fiery  Cross  towed  through,  having 
beaten  her  in  the  run  from  Foochow  by  two  days. 

Thermopylae. 

We  now  come  to  the  great  Thermopylae,  the 
pride  of  the  British  Merchant  Service  and  jusdy 
considered  by  most  seamen  to  have  been  the  lastest 
sailing  ship  ever  launched. 

She  was  a  more  powerful  ship  than  the  dainty 
Steele  clippers  and  had  a  good  deal  the  best  of 
even  Ariel,  Sir  Lancelot  or  Titania  in  running  the 
easting  down  ;  at  the  same  time  she  was  very  fast 
in  light  airs.  Indeed  she  has  been  known  to  have 
gone  along  7  knots  an  hour  when  a  man  could  have 
walked  round  the  decks  with  a  lighted  candle.  In 
fact,  under  every  condition  of  wind  she  was  a 
wonder.  In  steady  quartering  breezes,  when  all 
sail  was  set,  she  would  go  12^  to  13  knots  comfort- 
ably, her  helm  amidships  and  a  small  boy  steering 
and  there  was  never  any  necessity  to  take  in  her 
royals  or  small  staysails  until  she  was  running  well 
over  13  knots. 

She   went   to   windward    like   a   witch   and    was 
equally  good  off  the  wind.     With  the  wind  right  aft 


< 

o 
% 

A 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  275 

under  foresail  and  fore  lower  topsail,  main  topsails, 
topgallant  sail  and  royal  she  easily  logged  13  and 
possibly  the  only  vessel  that  could  beat  her  in  strong 
favouring  winds  was  her  great  rival,  the  Cutty  Sark 
Thermopylae  was  a  splendid  sea  boat  arid  when 
hove-to  in  bad  weather  rode  out  the  worst  sea  like 
a  duck,  whilst  she  made  good  weather  of  it  running 
under  three  lower  topsails,  reefed  main  upper  topsail 
and  reefed  foresail. 

Like  all  fine-lined  ships  she  was  wet  enough 
when  heavily  pressed  through  a  head  sea,  but  with 
more  bearing  and  less  counter  she  did  not  scoop  up 
the  seas  over  her  stern  like  such  yacht-like  vessels 
'as  Ariel  or  Titania. 

Her  designs  compared  with  the  half  model  of 
Titania  plainly  show  this  difference.  Thermopylae 
also  had  a  rocker  false  keel,  which  was  supposed  to 
help  her  to  windward. 

With  regard  to  her  sail  plan  she  marked  an 
advance  in  the  direction  of  width  of  canvas  as 
opposed  to  height.  She  had  nothing  above  her 
royal  yards,  but  these  were  tremendous  spars.  Her 
main  royal  was  19  feet  deep,  and  it  required  four  men 
to  put  the  gaskets  on  this  sail.  Her  mainyard  was 
80  feet  long,  and  her  mainsail  had  a  drop  of  40  feet. 

She  loaded  1000  tons  of  tea  on  a  draft  of  21  feet 
6  inches  with  over  250  tons  of  ballast. 

Kemball,  who  had  previously  commanded  Fair- 
light  and   Yangtze,  was  placed  in  command,  and  in 


276  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Starting  under  him  Thermopylae  was  fortunate,  for 
Messrs.  Thompson  could  not  have  picked  a  keener 
or  more  enterprising  skipper. 

Thermopylae  always  called  up  admiration  from 
every  sailor  who  s^w  her.  A  small  instance  of  this 
will  suffice.  On  one  occasion  she  cleared  Port 
Phillip  Heads  in  company  with  H.M.S.  Chary bdis. 
Both  vessels  crowded  sail  on  the  same  course,  but 
as  soon  as  Thermopylae  had  her  canvas  set  she 
began  to  draw  rapidly  away  from  the  warship,  in 
spite  of  all  the  latter's  efforts  to  stay  with  her.  At 
last,  when  Thermopylae  had  conclusively  proved  her 
superiority,  the  captain  of  the  Charybdis  could  not 
restrain  his  admiration,  and  hoisted  the  following 
signal  in  the  Mercantile  Code  as  he  rapidly  dropped 
astern: — "Good  bye.  You  are  too  much  for  us. 
You  are  the  finest  model  of  a  ship  I  ever  saw.  It 
does  my  heart  good  to  look  at  you." 

Thermopylae  was  launched  on  19th  August,  1868, 
and  sailed  for  Melbourne  from  Gravesend  on  7th 
November.  Her  first  voyage,  in  which  she  broke 
the  record  on  each  passage,  has  often  been  recorded 
in  print.  I  give  her  abstract  log  in  the  appendix. 
On    her    first    passage    it   will    be    noted    that   she 

Left  Gravesend  5  a.m.  7th  November 

Passed  the  Lizard  8th  November  1  day  out 

Crossed  the  line  28th  November  -  21  days  out 

Crossed  meridian  of  Greenwich  13th  December  36        ,, 

Sighted  Cape  Otway,  N.  JW.  12  miles,  7th  January  61         ,, 

Anchored  in  Port  Phillip  9th  January  -  -  63        ,, 

From  pilot  to  pilot  her  passage  was  only  60  days. 


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THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  277 

during  which  she  made  no  less  than  nine  runs  of 
over  300  miles,  the  greatest  being  330  with  a  strong 
quartering  breeze. 

Regarding  this  passage,  an  old  Blackwall 
midshipman  wrote  as  follows : — 

"  I  was  in  Melbourne  when  Thermopylae  came  in, 
and,  of  course,  went  on  board  to  have  a  look  at  the 
new  marvel.  She  had  immensely  square  yards,  and 
most  beautiful  lines  both  fore  and  aft.  Her 
apprentices  told  me  her  skipper  had  driven  her  all 
the  way,  carrying  on  tremendously ;  but  her  spars 
and  rigging  were  new  and  of  the  best  material  and 
stood  the  severe  strain  in  splendid  fashion." 

From  Melbourne  Thermopylae  went  up  to 
Newcastle,  N.S.W.,  where  she  loaded  for  Shanghai, 
and  then  made  the  passage  across  the  Pacific  from 
pilot  to  pilot  in  28  days,  another  record.  From 
Shanghai  she  went  down  to  Foochow  to  load  tea, 
with  the  golden  cock  at  her  masthead,  which  raised 
so  much  indignation  amongst  the  crews  of  those 
ships  which  had  already  won  the  blue  ribbon  of 
the  sea,  as  the  Foochow  tea  race  might  justly  be 
called.  And  one  may  imagine  the  excitement 
amongst  the  shippers  when  it  was  known  that 
Thermopylae  was  to  load  tea. 

"Windhover"  and  "Kaisow." 

Besides  the  wonderful  green  clipper,  two 
other  tea  ships  were  built  in  1868,  the  Windhover 
and  Kaisow. 


278  THE    CHINA    CUPPERS 

The  Windhover  was  a  good  wholesome  ship,  very- 
like  the  Forward  Ho.  She  proved  to  be  fastest  off 
the  wind,  though  very  good  all  round,  being  one  of 
those  vessels  which  did  exceedingly  well  in  any 
weather  without  being  anything  specially  remarkable, 

Kaisow,  the  Steele  clipper  of  the  year,  had  all  the 
ghosting  qualities  of  her  predecessors,  and  thus 
excelled  in  the  light  weather  of  the  China  Seas,  but 
she  was  a  fuller  lined  vessel  than  most  of  Steele's 
ships  and  so  was  not  quite  in  the  first  flight  when 
homeward  bound  with  tea. 


The  Tea  Race  of  1869. 


Ship. 

Captain. 

Froni. 

Date 
Left. 

Passed 
Anjer. 

Date  of 
Arrival. 

Days 
Out. 

Arid    .     .     .     . 

Courtenay 

Foochow 

June  30 

Oct.    12 

104 

Leander     . 

Petherick 

,j 

July     I 

July   27 

„      12 

103 

Lahloo  .     . 

Smith 

5» 

„       2 

,,      12 

102 

Thermopylae 

Kemball 

'» 

,-      3 

July   27 

„        2 

91 

Spindrift  . 

Innes 

.,      4 

„      18 

106 

Taeping     . 

Dowdy 

» 

M      9 

— 

.,      25 

108 

Ziba      .     . 

— 

,} 

,,     12 

— 

Nov.    8 

119 

Sir  Lancelot 

Robinson 

11 

,>    n 

Aug.    7 

Oct.   14 

89 

Kaisow 

Anderson 

ti 

„   18 

„   .23 

Nov.    8 

"3 

Black  Prince 

Inglis 

>) 

„   20 

J     via 
\  Ombay 

},.     16 

H9 

Windhover 

Nutsford 

}f 

,,   22 

„      8 

109 

Serica   .     . 

Watts 

>> 

..   25 

— 

..     15 

"3 

Falcon  .     . 

Dunn 

,>       27 

— 

..     15 

III 

Min      .     . 

— 

,j 

Aug.    7 

— 

Dec.  16 

131 

Flying  Spur 

Beckett 

)» 

„     25 

— 

..     24 

121 

Undine 

Scott 

Shanghai 

April  2 

— 

Aug.    2 

122 

Forward  Ho 

Hossack 

}} 

June  10 

— 

Oct.     2 

114 

Titania      .     . 

Burgoyne 

?) 

„     16 

July  15 

Sept.  22 

98 

Taitiing    .     . 

— 

)i 

„     21 

Oct.  14 

"5 

White  Adder . 

Moore 

>» 

July  16 

— 

Nov.    9 

116 

Maitland  .     . 

— 

Whampoa 

..     21 

Aug.  23 

.,       8 

no 

Silver  Eagle 

— 

,, 

Aug.  12 

— 

Dec.  21 

131 

Yangtze     .     .     . 

)i 

..     19 

— 

„     24 

127 

In  spite  of  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  freights 
were  up  to  ;;^5  again  in   1869,  and  Foochow  was 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  279 

Still  the  favourite  port,  though  already  there  were 
signs  of  it  being  supplanted  by  Shanghai  and 
Hankow. 

Ariel  severely  felt  the  loss  of  Keay's  clever 
handling,  but  it  was  only  natural  that  her  new 
master  should  not  have  understood  her  every  mood 
as  Captain  Keay  had  done.  However,  once  again 
the  shippers  favoured  her,  and  she  was  the  first  ship 
of  the  season  to  get  away  from  Foochow. 

This  year's  racing  showed  better  results  than  any 
other,  no  less  than  three  ships  breaking  the  record 
for  the  homeward  run  during  the  S.W.  monsoon, 
namely.  Sir  Lancelot  and  Thermopylae  from 
Foochow  and  Titania  from  Shanghai.  The  racing 
also  was  wonderfully  close  between  the  other  ships. 
The  first  three  starters  from  Foochow,  Ariel, 
Leander,  and  Lahloo,  sailing  within  72  hours  of 
each  other,  all  arrived  home  on  the  same  day. 
Leander,  however,  was  severely  handicapped  by 
having  too  much  ballast.  She  was  so  sharp  that 
she  loaded  right  down  to  her  marks  before  she  was 
full  of  tea,  a  most  unprecedented  circumstance,  and 
it  was  said  that  she  had  to  have  some  of  her  ballast 
taken  out. 

Thermopylae  caught  and  passed  her  crossing 
from  Anjer,  nevertheless  Leander  kept  with  Holt's 
steamer,  the  Achilles,  from  Anjer  to  Mauritius. 

But  the  chief  interest  in  the  Foochow  race  lay  in 
the   wonderful   performances   of    Thermopylae   and 


280 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 


Sir   Lancelot.      A    comparison    of    their   passages 
gives  the  following  : — 


Points  Passed. 

Thermopyltit. 

Days 
Out. 

Sir  Lancelot. 

Days 
Out. 

Sailed  from  the  Pagoda  Anchorge 

4  a.m.  July  3 

7  a.m.  July  17 

White  Dogs  N.N. E.  15  miles     - 

July  18 

Passed  Anjer 

6  a.m.  July  28 

25 

Aug.  7 

21 

„      Mauritius 

Aug.  9 

37 

Off  the  Buffalo  River 

„    28 

42 

,,    Cape  Agulhas 

„  21 

49 

Sept.    I 

46 

Passed  St  Helena      - 

(OnW.)  „  29 

57 

(sig'U'd),,    II 

56 

,,     Ascension 

Sept.     I 

60 

„      Equator 

..      6 

65 

,,     CapeVerd      - 

„     12 

71 

,,      Azores 

>>     23 

82 

,,      Lizard    - 

„     30 

89 

Oct.   10 

85 

,,      Dungeness 

5  p.m.  Oct.     I 
(fair  wind) 

90 

„    12 
(loul  baffling  wind) 

87 

, ,      Gravesend 

Oct.     2 

91 

2  p.m.  Oct.  13 

88 

Docked 

>>       2 

91 

„     14 

89 

Captain  Kemball,  on  getting  outside  the  Min 
River,  shaped  a  course  to  go  "  east  about "  as  it  was 
called — in  other  words  through  the  Ombay  Passage 
instead  of  by  Sunda — but  finding  fresh  winds  in 
126°  E.,  he  turned  back  into  the  China  Sea  and 
took  the  usual  route  via  Anjer.  When  six  days  on 
the  other  side  of  Anjer,  he  overhauled  and  signalled 
Leander,  which  he  spoke  on  the  3rd  August  and 
lost  sight  of  astern  on  the  6th  August. 

The  only  other  vessel  which  Thermopylae  en- 
countered on  the  passage  was  the  auxiliary  Achilles, 
which,  sailing  from  Foochow  on  i8th  July,  passed 
the  Thermopylae  in  the  baiifling  weather  of  Sunda 
Strait,  only  to  be  caught  and  dropped  astern  on 
1 7th  August.  Therm-opylae  was  very  lucky  in  only 
experiencing  two  days  of  wind  without  east  in  it 
all  the  way  from  Anjer  to  the  Cape. 


THE    CHINA    CUFPERSr  281 

Like  Ariel  in  1867,  Sir  Lancelot  made  a  late 
start  owing  to  the  length  of  her  intermediate 
passages.  She  had  left  the  East  India  Dock  on 
3rd  October,  1868,  and  arrived  at  Hong  Kong  on 
loth  January,  1869,  99  days  out. 

The  following  is  an  epitome  of  her  intermediate 
passages : — 


Left  Hong  Kong,  27th  January,  1869 
Arrived  Bangkok,  sth  February,  1869  - 
Left  Bangkok,  3rd  March,  1869 
Arrived  Hong  Kong  24th  March,  1869 
Left  Hong  Kong,  loth  April,  1869 
Arrived  Saigon,  20th  April,  1869 
Left  Saigon,  Sth  May,  1869 
Arrived  Yokohama,  26th  May,  1869 
Left  Yokohama,  14th  June,  1869 
Arrived  Foochow,  20th  June,  1869 


9  days  out 
21  days  out 
10  days  out 
21  days  out 

6  days  out 


Leaving  Foochow  on  the  17th  July,  she  was  very 
lucky  with  her  winds  on  the  China  Coast,  being 
only  21  days  to  Anj'er. 

Crossing  the  trades  the  energetic  Robinson  took 
full  advantage  of  his  splendid  start  and  averaged 
300  miles  a  day  for  a  whole  week  with  the  trade 
fresh  on  the  beam,  Sir  Lancelot's  best  run  during 
this  portion  of  the  passage  being  336  miles,  which 
gave  her  an  average  of  14  knots  tor  the  24  hours. 

Perhaps  the  chief  incident  of  the  passage  was  the 
deceiving  of  Spindrift.  This  happened  off  the 
Cape.  Spindrift  was  sighted  on  Sir  Lancelot's  port 
beam,  and  Captain  Robinson,  surmising  that 
Captain  Innes  would  never  believe  that  the  vessel 
in  sight  was  the  Sir  Lancelot,  which  had  sailed  12 


282  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

days  later  than  his  own  flyer,  determined  to  try  and 
keep  his  identity  secret  and  thus  signalled  the 
number  of  the  City  of  Dunedin  instead  of  his  own. 
Innes  was  completely  tricked,  for  on  his  arrival  he 
reported  speaking  the  City  of  Dunedin  off  the  Cape. 

Sir  Lancelot's  record  would  have  been  even 
better  if  she  had  not  met  with  light  baffling  winds 
in  the  Channel,  so  that  she  took  four  days  from 
the  Lizard  to  dock,  compared  with  Thermopylae's 
two  days. 

After  meeting  her  unknown  antagonist  on  31st 
August,  Spindrift  did  not  allow  her  to  get  very 
far  ahead  and  eventually  arrived  four  days  only 
behind  her. 

The  other  new  cracks.  Windhover  and  Kaisow, 
were  not  equal  to  rivalling  Thermopylae  s  wonderful 
record,  and  their  performances  in  the  race  home 
were  distinctly  disappointing. 

The  race  from  Shanghai  gave  Titania  her  first 
chance  of  showing  what  she  could  do.  This 
voyage  Captain  Deas  had  retired  and  been 
succeeded  by  Captain  Burgoyne,  a  far  more  enter- 
prising and  energetic  skipper,  who  soon  showed 
that  hitherto  Titania  had  not  had  justice  done  to 
her.  Making  allowance  for  the  extra  distance,  her 
98  days  from  Shanghai  was  very  nearly  as  good  as 
Thermopylae  s  91  from  Foochow.  And  her  26  days' 
run  between  Shanghai  and  Anjer  was  as  good  as 
Sir  Lancelots  21  from  Foochow.     I  say  26  days,  as 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  283 

she  was  held  up  near  the  Saddles  until  20th  June, 
and  Anjer  Lighthouse  bore  N.E.  6  miles  on 
15th  July. 

"Cutty  Sark." 

Whilst  Thermopylae,  Sir  Lancelot  and  Titania 
were  breaking  records,  a  very  notable  vessel  was 
being  built  at  Dumbarton.  This  was  the  world- 
famous  Cutty  Sark,  the  only  vessel  which  could 
seriously  dispute  Thermopylae's  contention  that  she 
was  the  fastest  ship  in  the  world. 

In  her  design  the  Cutty  Sark  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  ships  now  afloat,  tor  in  her  model  the 
past  is  linked  up  with  the  present,  the  days  of  the 
Napoleonic  wars  with  the  days  of  wireless  and  the 
flying  machine. 

Just  as  the  Baltimore  clippers  owed  their  model 
to  the  clever  draughtsmanship  of  some  dead  and 
gone  French  naval  architect,  whose  work,  seen  in  the 
beautiful  lines  of  some  old  Republican  privateer, 
was  thus  perpetuated  by  the  knowing  Americans, 
so  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  world  in  Bombay 
Harbour,  the  hulk  of  a  French  frigate,  renowned  in 
her  time  for  speed,  gave  her  form  to  one  of  the 
fastest  clippers  the  world  has  ever  seen,  and  added 
a  further  testimonial  to  the  skill  of  the  old  French 
designers.  Indeed,  one  may  safely  affirm  without 
fear  of  contradiction  that,  in  the  gradual  evolution  of 
design  and  improvement  in  build,  the  sailing  ship 
owes  as  much,  if  not  more,  to  the  French  draughts- 


284  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

man's  cleverness  than  to  that  of  either  the  British 
or  American. 

The  link  in  the  chain  between  the  old  French 
frigate  and  the  Cutty  Sark  was  Captain  John 
Willis's  famous  clipper  ship  the  Tweed,  whose 
history  is  worth  recording. 

In  the  year  1857  the  Parsees  built  a  paddle-wheel 
frigate  in  Bombay  Dockyard  for  the  East 
India  Marine. 

This  was  the  Punjaub,  one  of  the  most  costly 
vessels  ever  constructed  of  wood,  as  she  was  built 
entirely  of  the  finest  Malabar  teak.  Her  moulds 
were  made  from  the  drawings  of  Oliver  Lang,  who, 
in  turn,  drew  his  inspiration  from  the  aforesaid 
French  frigate. 

This  Punjaub,  after  distinguishing  herself  in  the 
Persian  War  and  Indian  Mutiny,  was  sent  home  in 
the  spring  ot  1862  to  be  sold.  Clever  old  John 
Willis  bought  her,  converted  her  into  a  sailing  ship, 
and,  placing  her  under  one  of  his  most  trusted 
captains,  W.  Stuart,  late  of  the  Lantmermuir,  sent 
her  out  to  see  what  she  could  do  as  a  peaceful 
trader  after  her  stirring  years  of  warfare. 

The  Tweed  measured,  when  converted  : — 

1745  tons  register  39  feet  6  inches  beam 

285  feet  length  over  all  25  feet  depth 

250  feet  length  registered 

with  a  poop  66  feet  long,  and  a  foe's 'le  of  57  feet. 

On  her  first  voyage  as  a  sailing  ship  the  Tweed 
took  out  and  helped  to  lay  the  telegraph  cable  in 


"CUTTY    SARK." 

1'1,'^tniniph  tabu  In)  Oiplalii    ll'..n,/,/,7. 


CUTTY    SARK"    LYING    IN    SYDNEY    HARBOUR. 


[7'</  l)n:p  I'aiir  ..'S/^ 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  285 

the  Persian  Gulf,  being  the  largest  sailing  ship  ever 
handled  in  the  Persian  Gulf  at  that  date,  and  one  of 
the  very  few  windjammers  ever  employed  in  cable 
laying.  She  did  the  passage  out  to  Bombay  with 
the  cable  on  board  in  77  days,  then  spent  many 
roasting  months  in  the  Gulf  laying  it  down,  and 
when  she  finally  reached  Bombay,. her  arduous  task 
accomplished,  half  her  crew  were  laid  up  with  fever. 

In  Bombay  Dockyard  she  underwent  a  thorough 
overhaul,  her  cabins  especially  being  enlarged  and 
refurnished  so,  as  to  provide  accommodation  for 
officers  when  she  was  taken  up  by  the  Government 
to  carry  troops,  a  service  for  which  she  proved  to 
be  very  well  fitted.  From  Bombay  she  went  to 
Vingorla,  took  the  Seaforth  Highlanders  on  board, 
and  made  the  run  home  in  78  days.  Her  reputation 
as  an  exceptionally  speedy  ship  was  now  made,  and 
for  some  years  after  the  Suez  Canal  had  been 
opened  the  Government  employed  her  to  carry 
invalided  troops  home  round  the  Cape,  in  which 
service  she  made  some  wonderful  runs. 

In  the  great  Indian  famine  of  the  seventies  she 
was  chartered  to  carry  rice  between  Rangoon  and 
Madras,  and  here  again  her  "wonderful  dashes 
across  the  Gulf  of  Bengal "  worthily  upheld 
her  reputation. 

Then  when  she  came  to  the  Colonial  emigrant 
trade  her  records  were  equally  good,  the  best 
being  : — London  to  Port  Chalmers  69  days,  Sydney 


286  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

to  London  69  days.  Whilst  on  the  China  Coast, 
Mr.  Joseph  Conrad  relates  that  "  In  the  middle 
sixties  she  had  beaten  by  a  day  and  a  half  the  steam 
mail  boat  from  Hong  Kong  to  Singapore,"  and  that 
officers  of  men-of-war  used  to  come  on  board  to 
take  the  exact  dimensions  of  her  sail  plan  and  note 
the  placing  of  her  masts. 

It  must  be  confessed,  however,  that  she  owed  a 
great  deal  to  Captain  Stuart.  This  man  was  as 
remarkable  as  his  ship,  and  if  the  old  Tweed  was  a 
marvel  in  light  winds,  her  captain  was  a  marvel  in 
the  "roaring  forties."  How  he  drove  her!  But 
she  bore  driving  like  the  thoroughbred  that  she  was. 
Mr.  Joseph  Conrad,  who  sailed  with  Captain  Stuart 
in  the  Tweed's  successor,  an  iron  Glasgow  clipper, 
gives  a  delightful  sketch  of  the  dare-devil  Scotsman 
in  his  Mirror  of  the  Sea. 

"He  seemed  constitutionally  incapable  of  ordering 
one  of  his  officers  to  shorten  sail,"  says  Mr.  Conrad. 
"  If  I  had  the  watch  from  eight  till  midnight,  he 
would  leave  the  deck  about  nine  with  the  words, 
'  Don't  take  any  sail  off  her.'  Then  on  the  point  of 
disappearing  down  the  companionway  he  would  add 
curtly,  '  Don't  carry  anything  away.'  " 

Mr.  Conrad  thus  describes  the  Tweeds  commander 
in  a  letter  to  me  : — 

"  Captain  Stuart  was  already  very  grey  in  my 
time,  but  there  were  no  other  signs  of  age  about 
him.     He  resembled  strikingly  the  portraits  of  the 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  287 

famous  Hobart  Pasha;  the  same  line  of  the  brow, 
the  same  nose  broadening  at  the  end,  the  same 
short  horse-shoe  beard.  Captain  Stuart  was  a 
native  of  Peterhead,  with  Viking  blood  in  his  veins. 
He  spoke  without  any  accent  and  prided  himself  on 
the  purity  of  his  English.  He  was  not  the  con- 
ventional sea  dog  at  all ;  but  he  was  a  perfect 
master  of  sea  craft  in  all  its  branches,  a  first-rate 
seaman,  a  born  commander,  and  a  smart  business 
man.  In  fact,  an  accomplished  shipmaster  of  the 
time  when  shipmasters  were  not  hung  on  the  end  of 
a  telegraph  cable  and  had  the  whole  conduct  of 
their  ships  in  their  own  hands.  Old  Willis  had  an 
unbounded  confidence  in  him.  He  used  to  take  the 
Tweed  out  for  three  years,  practically  without 
instructions,  and  the  ship  earned  a  small  fortune 
under  his  command." 

I  have  seen  some  of  Captain  Stuart's  beautifully 
written  and  clearly  expressed  business  letters,  which, 
with  an  abstract  log  of  the  passage,  came  home  to 
old  John  on  the  Tweed's  arrival  in  port,  and  their 
contents  bore  out  Mr.  Conrad's  testimony  as  to  his 
business  powers.  Mr.  Conrad  also  bears  witness  to 
"his  extraordinary  gift  of  incisive  criticism,"  and  his 
story  of  Stuart's  dilemma  in  the  Loch  Etive,  when 
his  mate,  a  man  too  deaf  to  "  tell  how  much  wind 
there  was,"  continually  over  carried  sail,  is  a  vivid 
little  character  study  of  the  Tweed's  commander. 

In  1878  Captain  Stuart  gave  the  Tweed  ovQt  to 


288  THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Captain  Bice  and  took  the  command  of  the  Loch 
Etive.  And  strange  to  say,  the  Tweed  refused  to 
sail  for  her  new  master,  who  had  been  mate  in  her 
for  years.  Though  a  fine  seaman  and  smart  officer, 
as  any  man  trained  under  Stuart  was  bound  to  be, 
the  Tweed's  new  captain  utterly  failed  to  make  the 
old  ship  show  her  former  phenomenal  speed,  and 
the  worry  of  it  broke  his  heart,  and  before  the 
voyage  was  out  he  died  at  sea  from  sheer  vexation 
of  spirit. 

After  ten  years  in  the  Australian  and  Calcutta 
trade  the  Tweed  ran  into  a  gale  off  Algoa  Bay  when 
bound  from  Cochin  to  New  York  with  general 
cargo,  and  on  the  i8th  of  July,  1888,  she  lost  all 
her  spars  overboard  except  the  fore  and  mizen 
lower  masts.  She  was  picked  up  by  the  s.s.  Venice 
and  towed  into  Algoa  Bay,  but  proved  to  be  not 
worth  her  salvage  and  was  eventually  broken  up. 

The  Tweed  was  old  Willis's  favourite  ship,  and 
was  certainly  one  of  the  most  remarkable  ships  of 
her  time.  It  is,  therefore,  not  surprising  that  Willis 
hoped  to  lower  Thermopylae's  colours  with  a  vessel 
designed  on  the  same  lines,  and  so  commissioned 
Hercules  Linton  to  take  them  off  and  use  them  in 
the  design  of  his  new  tea  clipper,  Cutty  Sark,  whose 
name,  I  need  hardly  mention,  was  taken  out  of 
Burnss  most  famous  poem.  Tam  o'  Shanter's 
beautiful  witch,  Nannie,  with  her  long  hair  and 
cutty  sark  flowing  in  the  wind,  formed  the  figurehead 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  289 

of  the  new  clipper,  and  at  the  same  time  danced,  as 
a  dog-vane,  at  her  main  truck,  and  still  dances  there 
in  spite  of  over  40  years'  buffeting  by  wind,  scorch- 
ing by  sun,  and  drenching  by  rain.  As  a  work  of 
art  this  original  figurehead  rivalled  the  splendid 
Leonidas  of  Thermopylae  and  the  armed  knight  of 
Sir  Lancelot. 

Cutty  Sark  had  rather  an  unlucky  start  to  her 
long  and  victorious  career.  Messrs.  Scott  &  Linton, 
who  received  the  contract  to  build  her,  failed  before 
she  was  completed,  and  she  was  finished  off  by 
Denny  Bros.  This,  naturally,  occasioned  some 
delay,  with  the  result  that  in  the  hurry  to  get  her 
ready  in  time  to  reach  China  for  the  first  season's 
teas  some  of  the  work  was  rather  scamped,  and  a 
good  deal  of  her  iron  work  aloft,  such  as  the  trusses 
and  slings  of  the  yards,  gave  way  on  her  first 
voyage  and  had  to  be  renewed.  And  this  hurried 
completion  may  have  had  something  to  do  with  the 
losing  of  her  rudder  during  her  great  race  with 
Thermopylae  in  1872. 

In  appearance  Cutty  Sark  was  a  thoroughbred 
from  truck  to  keel,  yet  she  cannot  be  said  to  have 
borne  any  particular  resemblance  to  either  the 
famous  Steele  clippers  or  Thermopylae.  She  was  a 
more  powerful  vessel  in  every  way  than  the  dainty 
Steele  creations,  and  more  powerful,  in  my  opinion, 
than  even   Thermopylae,  for  no  clipper  of  her  size 

has  ever  rivalled  her  performances  in  easting  weather. 

u 


290  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

She  was  specially  built  to  beat  Thermopylae. 
The  following  measurements,  taken  from  Lloyd's 
Register,  prove  that  Cutty  Sark,  though  practically 
of  the  same  size  as  Thermopylae,  yet  was  a  sharper 
ended  ship. 

Cutty  Sark.  Thermopylae. 

Character  16  years  A I  17  years  Ai 

Length  212  feet  5  inches        212  feet 

Beam  36  feet  36  feet 

Depth  21  feet  20  feet  9  inches 

Tonnage  (under  deck)  892  tons  927  tons 

Tonnage  (gross)  963  tons  991  tons 

Tonnage  (net)  921  tons  948  tons 

Raised  quarter-deck  46  feet  long  61  feet  long 

Though  5  inches  longer  and  3  inches  deeper  than 
Thermopylae,  Cutty  Sark  yet  measured  27  tons  less 
than  Thermopylae.  Unfortunately  the  plans  of 
Cutty  Sark  have  long  since  disappeared,  but  the 
deduction  that  she  was  the  sharper  ship  of  the  two 
is  obvious.  Indeed,  Cutty  Sark  had  the  long  knife- 
like entrance  of  a  modern  liner. 

In  her  sail  plan  she  resembled  the  Steele  clippers 
and  crossed  the  dainty  skysail  yard  at  the  main. 
She  was,  of  course,  a  double  topsail  yard  ship  and 
her  sail  area  was  tremendous. 

Like  Thermopylae,  she  continued  to  carry  her  full 
suit  of  racing  sails  and  spars  for  years  after  the 
older  favourites  had  been  cut  down  and  in  many 
cases  converted  into  barques.  But  in  1881  her 
spars  were  reduced,  9  feet  6  inches  being  cut  off 
her  long  lower  masts  and  7  feet  off  her  lower  yards, 
the  other  spars  being  shortened  in  proportion.     Yet 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  291 

even  with  this  great  loss  of  sail  area,  she  continued 
to  make  record  passages  and  runs  such  as  182  knots 
in  12  hours  and  67  days  from  Sydney  to  the 
Lizards  under  Captain  Woodget,  who  had  her  until 
she  was  sold  to  the  Portuguese.  In  the  placing  of 
her  masts,  she  was  evidently  a  smaller  edition  of 
the  Tweed,  the  foremast  of  both  ships  being  stepped 
much  further  aft  than  was  usual  at  that  date,  at  the 
same  time  her  sticks  had  a  good  rake  to  them 
like  the  Tweed's. 

With  regard  to  her  other  points,  an  examination 
of  the  photograph  will  tell  a  sailor  quite  as  much  as 
a  written  description,  although  her  portrait  was 
taken  after  she  had  been  cut  down.  The  beautiful 
proportions  of  her  bow  and  stern  will  at  once  be 
noticed.  The  short  transom  and  deepish  counter 
fit  the  perfect  curve  of  the  stem  to  a  nicety,  and  her 
poise  on  the  water  gives  a  delightful  hint  of  bird- 
like buoyancy  and  liveliness. 

In  the  matter  of  speed  Cutty  Sarks  records  were 
as  numerous  as  Thermopylae  s,  though  she  was  not, 
on  the  whole,  so  fortunate  in  either  her  winds  or 
commanders,  for  when  she  had  a  hard-sailing 
skipper  as  in  her  first  three  voyages  she  was  most 
unlucky  with  her  winds,  and  such  entries  as  the 
following  are  constantly  to  be  met  with  in  his 
abstract  logs : — 

"In  all  my  sailing  about  the  China  Sea,  I  have 
never   experienced   such   weather.       The   principal 


292  THE    CHINA    CUPPERS 

complaint  all  the  way  down  has  been  want  of  wind 
with  three  days'  exception." 

"  Very  unsettled  with  unsteady  winds,  the 
strangest  trade  winds  I  have  seen  for  some  time." 

"Sails  clashing  against  the  masts.  If  they  do 
not  get  worn  one  way,  they  will  another.  During 
this  voyage,  for  one  day  that  they  have  been  full, 
they  have  been  two  clashing  about." 

"The  old  music  again,  sails  clashing  against  the 
masts.  Very  pleasant  for  people  who  are  not  in 
a  hurry." 

"  Cutty  Sark  music  again,  viz.,  sails  clashing 
against  the  masts." 

"Strong  gale  from  N.N.W.  When  the  wind 
comes  it  is  a  head  gale." 

"  I  cannot  rightly  describe  the  weather  but  it  is 
the  strangest  I  have  ever  seen  in  this  part  of 
the  ocean.  Clouds  passing  to  and  fro  from  one 
quarter  then  from  another,  sometimes  a  squall, 
sometimes  rain  only,  and  the  swell  that  rose 
yesterday  afternoon  from  W.N.W.  has  gone  round 
to  north  and  is  now  coming  flying  up  from 
N.E.,  sometimes  nearly  breaking.  Wind,  faint 
variable  airs  from  north,  south,  east  and  west 
but  never  enough  to  give  the  ship  steerage  way. 
The  ship  is  sometimes  rearing  nearly  over  end 
with  this  N.W.  swell." 

All  these  entries  are  taken  from  Cutty  Sark's 
first   passage   home,  and   her   exasperated   skipper 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  293 

finally  writes  sarcastically,  when  still  nine  days 
from  port : — 

"  We  will  have  to  say,  '  Weel  done,  Cutty  Sark ! ' 
for  this  is  certainly  splendid  work,  icx)  days  from 
Shanghai.  I  sincerely  hope  our  neighbours  will 
have  the  winds  we  have  had." 

On  her  third  voyage  Cutty  Sark  was  better  served 
with  wind,  but  just  when  she  seemed  assured  of  a 
splendid  passage  and  a  victory  over  Thermopylae 
her  chances  were  spoilt  by  the  loss  of  her  rudder. 

Captain  Moodie  left  her  at  the  end  of  this  voyage, 
and  the  captains  who  succeeded  him  were  not 
racing  captains  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word 
and  did  not  carry  sail  hard.  However,  in  the 
Australian  trade  she  was  lucky  in  being  under 
one  of  the  hard  old  breed  of  sea  dogs  in  Captain 
Woodget,  who  never  lost  a  mile  for  want  ol  sail. 

In  actual  speed  through  the  water.  Captain 
Moodie  measured  her  both  by  the  common  and 
patent  log  and  found  her  going  as  much  as  17^^ 
knots  an  hour. 

He  gives  her  best  24  hours'  run  under  him  as 
363  knots,  which  is  the  biggest  run  ever  made 
by  a  tea  clipper. 

A  letter  appeared  in  Fairplay  some  years  back, 
which  ran  as  follows — 

Sir, — In  your  last  issue  are  some  remarks  on  the  record  breaking  of 
Captain  Willis's  famous  Cutty  Sark.  Permit  me  to  give  my  quota  of  evidence 
as  to  this  ship's  extraordinary  performances.  At  a  earlier  period  of  her 
career  she  made  362  and  363  knots  in  24  hours  on  two  consecutive  days. — 
I  am,  sir,  yours,  etc.,  "  One  WHO  KNOWS." 


294 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 


As  late  as  1892  she  did  a  day's  work  of  353  knots 
when  running  the  easting  down  and  covered  2180 
miles  in  the  week.  In  1890  she  ran  3737  miles  in 
13  consecutive  days  between  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  and  the  Leeuwin.  In  1889  she  went  from 
Green  Cape  to  Sydney,  a  distance  of  220  miles,  in 
17  hours,  and  on  another  occasion  sailed  7678 
miles  in  30  days. 

All  these  runs  were  made  after  she  was  cut  down, 
so  that  the  363  miles  under  her  full  sail  plan  seems 
in  no  way  an  impossible  feat. 

Crossing  the  S.E.  trades  from  Anjer,  when 
homeward  bound  with  tea  she  generally  managed 
to  make  some  big  runs.  The  following  table  show- 
ing   three    consecutive    days'   work    crossing    from 


Date. 

MUes. 

Remarks. 

Ariel,  1868 

June 

28 

330 

S.E.  and  S.E.  by  E.,  strong 

»> 

29 

3IS 

S.E.  fresh  and  strong  gusts 

J, 

30 

314 

S.E.  more  moderate 

Thermopylae, 

1869 

July 

31 

267 

S.E.  fresh 

August 

I 

290 

8. S.E.  strong 

»» 

2 

318 

E.S.E.  strong 

Cutty  Sark,  1 

872 

July 

27 

340 

E.S.E.  strong  and  squally 

Ji 

28 

327 

E.S.E.  more  moderate 

J» 

29 

320 

E.S.E.  moderate 

Anj'er  from  Cutiy  Sark's  1872  homeward  run, 
Thermopylae's  record  run  in  1869  and  Ariel's  best 
in  1868,  is  ot  interest  to  show  Cutty  Sark's 
superiority  in  hard  whole  sail  breezes.  We  may 
safely  assume  that  all  three  ships  were  driven  to  the 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  295 

Utmost ;  indeed  Captain  Keay's  private  log  is  one 
string  of  broken  stunsail  booms. 

In  comparing  the  speeds  of  Cutty  Sark  and 
Thermopylae,  after  a  close  study  of  their  abstract 
logs  for  a  number  of  voyages,  I  find  myself  drawing 
these  conclusions  : — 

(i)  That  Thermopylae,  though  an  exceptional 
ship  in  any  weather,  was  at  her  best  in  moderate 
and  light  winds. 

(2)  That  Cutty  Sark's  best  point  was  with  strong 
beam  or  quartering  breezes,  on  which  occasions  she 
could  beat  Thermopylae  or  any  other  ship  ever  built. 

(3)  That  Thermopylae  was  slightly  the  best  ship 
to  windward,  and  Cutty  Sark  off  the  wind. 

(4)  That  China  voyages  suited  Thermopylae  best 
and  Australian  voyages  suited  Cutty  Sark  best. 

Before  leaving  this  much-disputed  question  of 
speed,  I  will  quote  from  an  old  sailor's  reminiscences 
in  order  to  show  Cutty  Sark's  speed  in  comparison 
with  that  of  a  fast  main  skysail-yard  wool  clipper  in 
the  year  1879  : — 

"  One  day  we  sighted  a  vessel,  a  mere  speck  on 
the  horizon,  astern  of  us,  and  the  way  she  came  into 
view  it  was  evident  she  was  travelling  much  faster 
than  ourselves.  '  Bringing  the  wind  up  with  her ' 
was  remarked  on  board,  and  that  seemed  the  only 
feasible  conclusion  to  arrive  at  and  account  for  the 
manner  in  which  she  overhauled  us.  In  a  few- 
hours  she  was  alongside  us,  and  proved  to  be  the 


296  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

famous  British  clipper  Cutty  Sark,  one  of  the  fastest 
ships  afloat.  She  passed  us  going  2  feet  to  our  i, 
and  in  a  short  time  was  hull  down  ahead  of  us." 

Cutty  Sark  was  lg,unched  in  November,  1 869,  and 
the  following  is  an  epitome  of  her  maiden  passage : — 

February  15,  1870 — Made  sail  from  the  Downs  about  midnight. 

February  16,  1870— Took  departure  from  the  Start  at  11  p.m. 

Had  strong  southerly  winds  and  gales  to  the  N.E.  trades.  Had  very 
light  N.E.  trades. 

March  13,  1870— Crossed  the  line;  25  days  out.  Had  very  light 
S.E.  trades. 

April  6,  1870— Crossed  the  meridian  of  Greenwich;  49  days  out. 

Her  best  week's  work  running  easting  down  was  between  13th  and  19th 
April,  and  totalled  2061  miles. 

April  13,  1870—44°  i8'  S.,  38°  48'  E.  Distance  298.  Wind  N.N.E. 
and  north,  strong. 

April  14,  1870 — 44°  18'  S.,  47°  8'  E.  Distance  360.  Wind  north,  fresh. 
P.M.,  moderate. 

April  15,  1870—44°  25'  S.,  53°  22'  E.  Distance  269.  Wind  north, 
strong.  W.N.W.  (Distance  by  common  and  patent  log  and  dead  reckoning 
343  miles.     Adverse  current. ) 

April  i6,  1870— 44°  9' 8.,  60"  22' E.  Distance  304.  Wind  W.N.W.  and 
N.  N.  W. ,  strong  to  a  gale. 

April  17,  1870— 43°  23' S.,  66°  21' E.  Distance  266.  Wind  north ;  light 
wind  and  heavy  sea.     P.M.,  fresh  gale,  passed  a  ship  steering  east. 

April  18,  1870—42°  17'  S.,  73°  51'  E.  Distance  336.  Wind  N.N.E., 
fresh  gale.     Noon,  S.S.W.     Midnight,  S.E.  strong. 

April  19,  1870—40°  27'  S.,  78°  14'  E.  Distance  228.  Wind  S.E., 
strong  gale. 

May  3,  1870 — Made  Java  Head  76  days  out. 

In  the  Straits  of  Sunda  Cutty  Sark  overhauled 
the  Aberdeen  White  Star  clipper  Thyatira,  Doune 
Castle  (one  of  Skinner's),  Wylo  (the  new  Steele 
clipper),  and  the  veteran  Fiery  Cross.  With  light 
variable  airs  and  calms,  these  ships  hung  on  to  her 
longer  than  they  would  have  done  otherwise. 
Wylo  proved  the  most  difficult  to  shake  off,  but 
after  being  eight  days  in  company  she  also  at  last 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 


297 


dropped  out  of  sight  astern.  Cutty  Sark  had  light 
airs  and  calms  all  the  way  up  the  coast  with  the 
exception  of  three  days  of  the  N.E.  monsoon 
blowing  a  gale  from  right  ahead. 

At  5  a.m.  on  31st  May  she  picked  up  her 
Shanghai  pilot  off  the  lightship,  having,  in  spite  of 
an  unusual  amount  of  light  winds  and  calms,  made 
the  passage  pilot  to  pilot  in  104  days. 

The  following  list  of  outward  passages,  made 
about  the  same  time,  show  that  Cutty  Sark's  run 
was  a  very  good  one. 

Outward  Passages  to  China  lg69»70. 


Ship. 

From. 

Left. 

To. 

Arrived. 

Days 
Out. 

148 
112 

154 
141 
120 
120 

"5 
105 
103 
104 

Windhover 
Black  Prince    .     . 
While  Adder  .     . 

London 

Dec.    4 
„     18 
„     18 
,.     20 
Jan.  21 
Feb.     I 
..       3 
..       5 
>.     II 
..     IS 

Shanghai 
Hong  Kong 
Shanghai 
>> 

n 

» 
Hong  Kong 
Foochow 
Shanghai 

May     I 
April  9 
May  21 

»     10 
„     21 
June    I 
May  29 
.,     21 
..     25 
..     31 

Flying  Spur    .     . 
Thyatira     .     .     . 

JohnR.  Worcester 
Fiery  Cross      . 

Wylo      .     .     . 
Cutty  Sark .     .     . 

<«  Norman  Court." 

Next  to  Cutty  Sark  the  most  important  clipper 
launched  in  1 869  was  the  Norman  Court.  Designed 
by  Rennie,  she  bore  a  strong  family  likeness  to 
Fiery  Cross  and  Black  Prince,  and  was  a  very 
beautiful  ship  in  every  way.  She  should  have  been 
Rennie's  masterpiece,  but  the  builders  made  some 
slight  deviation  from  his  design  in  the  moulding  of 
the  iron  frames,  which,  though  it  did  not  interfere 


298  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

very  much  with  her  speed,  made  her  more  tender 
than  she  should  otherwise  have  been.  These  little 
mistakes  were  no  uncommon  occurrence  when  ships 
were  built  from  outside  plans,  and  it  was  generally 
found  that  a  builder  was  more  successful  with  vessels 
built  to  his  own  design  than  with  those  he  built 
from  the  plans  of  an  outside  architect. 

However,  with  the  exception  of  this  error  which 
affected  her  stability,  Norman  Court  had  beautifully 
fair  lines,  and  she  was  most  perfectly  built  and 
finished.  Unlike  Cutty  SarMs,  her  iron  work  was 
specially  good.  In  fact,  a  London  blacksmith,  who 
was  employed  repairing  one  of  her  trusses  some 
years  later  was  so  lost  in  admiration  of  her  iron 
work  that  he  declared  it  must  have  been  made  by 
a  watchmaker. 

As  to  her  deck  fittings,  her  bulwarks  were 
panelled  in  teak,  with  a  solid  brass  rail  on  top  all 
round.  And  even  her  foc's'le  lockers  were  panelled 
better  than  those  of  many  a  ship's  cabin. 

Norman  Court,  indeed,  rivalled  the  Steele  clippers 
in  looks  and  beauty,  and  was  considered  at  one  time 
to  be  the  prettiest  rigged  vessel  sailing  out  of  London. 

She  was  very  heavily  sparred  and  extremely  lofty, 
so  lofty,  indeed,  that  one  4th  of  July,  when  she  was 
lying  in  Shanghai  with  several  other  clippers, 
including  Thermopylae,  the  American  superintendent 
of  the  Hankow  Wharf  came  off  with  a  star- 
spangled   banner   and   asked    Captain    Shewan    to 


H 
PS 

O 
O 

z 

oi 
o 
z 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  299 

fly  it  at  his  main  truck,  remarking  that  it  would  be 
seen  further  from  there  than  from  any  other  point 
within  leagues  of  Shanghai.  Captain  Shewan  was 
also  asked  whether  he  gave  an  apprentice  a  biscuit 
before  he  sent  him  up  to  furl  the  skysail.  Indeed, 
if  the  Baring  clipper  had  been  as  square  as 
Thermopylae  with  her  own  loftiness  she  would  have 
been  very  much  overhatted,  but,  luckily  for  her 
stability,  she  had  a  narrow  sail  plan. 

Like  most  of  the  tea  clippers,  her  masts  were 
raked  well  aft,  in  fact,  they  had  more  rake  than  was 
usual,  and  this,  Captain  Shewan  thought,  rather 
spoilt  her  sailing  in  light  winds.  The  chief  reason 
for  this  rake  was  that  it  kept  a  wooden  ship  from 
diving  too  much  into  a  head  sea. 

In  her  paces  Norman  Court  was  a  bona  fide  tea 
clipper  in  every  way — fast  in  light  airs,  at  her  best 
with  fresh  whole  sail  beam  winds,  but  not  the  equal 
of  Cutty  Sark  when  the  royals  were  fast,  and 
perhaps  a  good  \  knot  slower  than  the  Willis  crack 
when  oif  the  wind,  for  Norman  Court's  best  point 
was  to  windward — indeed,  she  was  one  of  the  most 
weatherly  of  all  the  tea  clippers.  Owing  to  the  way 
in  which  her  bilge  was  carried  right  away  to  her 
stem  (though  there  was  nothing  above  the  water 
line  to  stop  her)  she  went  into  a  sea  like  a  rubber 
ball,  and  very  rarely  buried  herself  like  some  of  the 
Aberdeen  ships.  She  required  careful  watching, 
however,  and  if  caught  by  the  wind  freeing  two  or 


300  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

three  points  in  a  squall  when  going  close-hauled 
under  a  press  of  sail  she  would  go  over  till  the  lee 
bunks  of  the  midshiphouse  were  under  water. 

With  regard  to  trim,  she  sailed  best,  especially 
running,  when  well  down  by  the  stern.  On  one 
occasion,  when  she  left  London  for  Sydney  with  a 
light  load-line,  Captain  Shewan  kept  her  on  an 
even  keel,  but  found  that  she  did  not  do  as  well  as 
usual  running  the  easting  down.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  1871,  when  she  made  the  fast  run  of  67 
days  to  the  South  Cape,  Tasmania,  she  was  very 
deep  with  Manchester  bales  and  nearly  a  foot  by  the 
stern.  This  trim  gave  her  some  splendid  runs  in 
the  "roaring  forties,"  but  she  also  took  a  tremendous 
lot  of  heavy  water  over  aft  in  making  them.  Once 
she  left  Macao  in  heavy  weather  with  no  chance 
to  get  her  proper  trim.  This  passage  she  sailed 
first  rate  on  a  wind,  though  very  wet  forward, 
and  on  her  arrival  she  was  found  to  be  6  inches 
by  the  head. 

Norman  Court  was  called  after  the  Hampshire 
seat  of  her  owner,  Thomas  Baring,  and  her  figure- 
head was  a  splendidly-carved  likeness  of  one  of  the 
family  beauties.  Captain  Andrew  Shewan,  senior, 
had  her  for  her  first  two  voyages,  and  then  his  son 
had  her  for  the  rest  of  her  racing  career. 

She  was  launched  from  Inglis's  yard  in  July,  and 
sailed  for  Hong  Kong  in  October,  making  the  very 
good  passage  out  of  98  days. 


THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS  301 

The  "CaUph." 

Norman  Court  left  on  her  maiden  voyage  in 
company  with  another  new  tea  clipper.  This  was 
the  Caliph,  Hall  of  Aberdeen's  starter  in  the  race  to 
displace  Thermopylae's  cock  of  victory. 

Caliph,  however,  disappeared  in  the  China  Seas, 
after  having  passed  through  the  Straits  of  Sunda,  a 
few  days  after  Norman  Court.  As  there  was  no 
typhoon  to  account  for  her  non-arrival,  it  was 
supposed  at  the  time  that  she  had  been  surprised 
and  captured  in  a  calm  by  pirates,  and  from  that 
day  to  this  no  trace  of  her  has  ever  been  found. 
However,  though  her  life  was  so  short  she  is  worth 
a  description,  as  she  was  a  very  up-to-date  clipper 
in  every  way. 

In  design  she  was  a  very  extreme  ship  with  far 
more  dead  rise  than  any  of  her  contemporaries. 
And  she  had  as  lofty  a  sail  plan  as  Norman  Court, 
crossing  all  three  skysails.  She  also  had  height 
without  width,  and  had  much  smaller  courses  and 
topsails  than  Ariel  and  Sir  Lancelot,  though  she 
was  of  greater  tonnage. 

But  the  chief  innovation  on  the  Caliph  was  her 
engine.  This  was  of  8 -horse  power,  situated  at  the 
after  end  of  her  midship-house,  as  became  the 
custom  later  in  iron  clippers.  But,  besides  being 
useful  for  handling  cargo,  lifting  the  anchor,  pump- 
ing ship,  and  hoisting  topsails,  this  engine  was  fitted 
by  means  of  shafts  for  driving  two  small  screws. 


302  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

which  could  be  lowered  overboard  on  each  side  of 
the  vessel,  and  were  expected  to  drive  the  ship  along 
2^  knots  in  a  calm.  Caliph  also  had  a  condenser 
capable  of  distilling  50  gallons  of  water  in  1 2  hours. 
She  was  commanded  by  the  son  of  a  ship 
chandler  or  rope  maker,  who  had  some  shares  in 
her,  a  man  without  much  experience,  and  this  fact  may 
have  had  something  to  do  with  her  disappearance. 

«Wylo,"  "Ambassador,"  "Erne,"  and  "Osaka." 

Of  the  other  clippers  launched  in  1869, 
Wylo,  from  Steele's  yard,  was  a  sister  ship  of 
Kaisow.  Ambassador,  Lund's  first  venture  in  the 
tea  trade,  was  very  cranky  and  overmasted,  though 
a  fast  ship.  Eme,  a  very  pretty  vessel,  was  a 
light-wind  flyer.  She  was,  however,  very  un- 
fortunate in  her  first  race  home  and  took  135  days 
to  London.  She  went  by  the  long  eastern  route 
and  got  badly  becalmed.  However,  though  it  was 
more  the  misfortune  than  the  fault  of  her  skipper, 
old  Captain  Wade,  of  Robertson  &  Co.,  her  owners, 
met  the  ship  on  arrival  and  sacked  the  wretched 
man  there  and  then,  with  such  a  flow  of  language 
as  made  the  neighbouring  bargees  gape  with 
admiration.  To  be  unlucky  in  the  tea  trade  was  a 
very  bad  offence,  and  no  amount  of  good  seamanship 
could  make  up  for  it  in  the  eyes  of  the  owners. 
The  Osaka  was  a  small  clipper  barque,  built  by 
Pile  of  Sunderland,  for  Captain  Killick  of  Challenger 
fame,  the  owner  of  Wylo  and  Kaisow. 


THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS  303 

"Oberon." 

Before  turning  to  the  tea  race  of  1870,  I 
must  say  a  few  words  about  Oberon,  the  ship  which 
Captain  Keay  left  Ariel  to  take  command  of. 

Oberon  was  an  experiment  of  Maxton's,  one  of 
those  failures  as  auxiliary  steamers  which,  when 
their  screws  were  removed,  proved  very  fine  sailing 
vessels.  It  is  curious  that  this  was  by  no  means 
uncommon  with  early  full-rigged  steamers.  The 
mention  of  the  following  names,  the  Tweed,  Oberon, 
Darling  Downs,  Lady  Jocelyn,  and  Lancing  will 
show  how  successful  the  steamship  design  has  been 
under  sail. 

Oberon  was  heavily  rigged  with  three  skysail 
yards,  and  when  under  sail  alone  proved  a  very  fast, 
handy  vessel  and  a  splendid  sea  boat.  But  her  best 
speed  under  steam,  at  a  coal  consumption  of  7  tons 
a  day,  was  only  7  knots  an  hour,  and  she  proved  to 
be  quite  unable  to  stem  a  strong  head  wind  and  sea. 

She  cost  ;^35,ooo  to  build,  and  thus  was  a  very 
costly  experiment. 

Her  black  squad  consisted  of  two  engineers  and 
three  firemen.  These  poor  wretches  had  a  very  bad 
time  in  the  tropics,  as  in  those  days  the  ventilation 
of  engine  room  and  stokehole  was  most  primitive. 

Captain  Keay,  after  a  very  worrying  voyage, 
managed  to  get  her  home  from  Hankow  via  the 
Cape  in  115  days.  He  then  left  her  for  another 
troublesome  steam  kettle. 


304  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Oberon's  second  voyage,  with  a  less  experienced 
captain,  was  an  even  greater  disappointment  than 
her  first.  She  started  well  by  making  Port 
Said  under  sail  alone  in  i8  days  from  Plymouth. 
The  sails  were  then  put  in  the  gaskets  and  steam 
raised  for  the  passage  of  the  Canal  and  Red  Sea. 
All  went  well  until  she  was  nearing  the  southern 
end  of  the  Red  Sea,  when  a  strong  southerly  wind 
absolutely  stopped  her  headway.  Hoping  that  this 
would  soon  take  off,  the  captain  anchored  off  Mocha. 
But  eight  days  passed  and  still  the  southerly  wind 
blew  as  strong  as  ever,  so  Oberon  was  at  last 
compelled  to  beat  through  Laage  Strait  under  both 
steam  and  canvas.  This  soon  consumed  her  limited 
supply  of  coal,  and  she  was  obliged  to  put  into 
Aden  to  refill  her  bunkers.  Coaling  was  again  a 
necessity  at  Labuan. 

Her  next  trouble  was  going  up  the  Yangtze  to 
Hankow.  With  great  difficulty  she  managed  to 
stem  the  7 -knot  current  as  far  as  the  Orphan  Rock, 
but  here  the  current  became  so  fierce  that  her 
headway  was  completely  stopped.  Thereupon  her 
engineer  did  what  many  another  engineer  was 
compelled  to  do  in  those  early  days  of  the  steam 
engine,  he  jammed  down  the  safety  valve  and  raised 
the  working  pressure  from  30  to  45  lbs.  This 
desperate  expedient  just  got  her  past  the  Orphan 
Rock  in  safety. 

On  the  homeward  run  she  took  134  days  from 


THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS  305 

Hankow  via  the  Cape.  Two  such  voyages  were 
enough.  Her  machinery  was  removed,  and  hence- 
forth she  depended  on  sail  alone  with  infinitely 
better  results. 


The  Tea  Race  of  1870. 

Ship. 

Captain. 

From. 

Left. 

Passed  Anjer, 

Arrived 
London. 

Days 
Out. 

Ambassador    . 

Duggan 

Foochow 

July  25 

(Pitt's  Pas•ge^ 
1  Aug.     24   f 

Nov.  17 

"5 

Thermopylat  . 

Kemball 

}i 

..     29 

Aug. 

23 

„      12 

106 

Erne      .     .     . 

— 

»» 

»     31 



Dec.  13 

'35 

Sir  Lancelot  . 

Edmonds 

Aug.    2 

Sept. 

4 

Nov.  14 

1 04 

Norman  Court 

Shewan 

„ 

»       3 

,, 

4 

„     16 

105 

Wyh    .     .     . 

Brown 

)» 

„     i8 

f> 

27 

Dec.  12 

112 

Chinaman 

— 

»» 

..     27 

25 

..     13 

108 

Windhover     . 

— 

)» 

»    30 

— 

I»            " 

100 

Falcon  .     .     . 

Dunn 

>i ' 

Sept.  2 

— 

..     19 

108 

Maitland  .     . 

— 

>» 

„      ID 

Oct. 

6 

»     30 

III 

Flying  Spur  . 

Beckett 

11 

„      22 

fi 

21 

Jan.  20 

120 

Lahloo  .     .     . 

Smith 

It 

Oct.    12 

„     18 

98 

Kaisow      .     . 

Anderson 

»» 

,.      26 

— 

Feb.    2 

99 

Taitsing    .     . 

— 

»i 

Nov.    3 

— 

Mar.    4 

121 

Taeping     .     . 

Dowdy 

Macao 

June  10 



Sept.  29 

III 

Belted  mil    . 

Thompson 

If 

July  13 

Aug. 

'3 

Oct.  25 

lOI 

Fiery  Cross     . 

Middleton 

»» 

Sept.  i6 

— 

Jan.   10 

116 

Oberon  .     .     . 

John  Keay 

Shanghai 

June  1 8 



Oct.     7 

III 

Titania     .     . 

Burgoyne 

yt 

„     i8 

— 

,.      8 

112 

Cutty  Sark     . 

Moodie 

„      25 

Aug. 

2 

..     13 

no 

Serica  .     .     . 

Sproule 

,.      28 

— 

..    24 

118 

Forward  Ho  . 

Hossack 

„     28 

— 

..    25 

119 

Ethiopian .     . 

Faulkner 

July     I 

.       — 

Nov.  12 

134 

J.  R.  Worcester 

Cawse 

..       5 

— 

,.      8 

126 

Undine      .     . 

Scott 

„     3° 

— 

»     14 

107 

Thyatira   .     . 

M'Kay 

Aug.  12 

— 

Dec.    8 

ij8 

Leander     .     . 

Petherick 

Oct.    12 

~~ 

Jan.   18 

98 

An  important  absentee  will  be  noticed  in  the 
records  of  the  1870  homeward  passages.  This  is 
the  unfortunate  Spindriftt^  which  was  wrecked  on 
Dungeness  when  outward  bound  in  charge  of  a 
Channel  pilot,  and  the  loss  of  this  splendid  clipper 
was  most  unsatisfactory  and  unnecessary. 

Captain  Nutsford,  who  had  only  been  home  two 

w 


306  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

days,  was  transferred  into  her  from  the  Windhffver, 
and  with  such  a  quick  turn  round  decided  to  take 
his  wife  with  him  down  Channel.  The  pilot  also 
had  only  just  returned  from  taking  a  ship  out,  and 
had  had  no  time  for  any  rest. 

With  a  fine  northerly  wind  and  a  clear  night 
Spindrift  was  making  splendid  time,  and  in  order 
to  save  mileage  was  hugging  the  Kent  shore. 

Captain  Nutsford  was  asleep  in  the  cabin  and  the 
pilot  was  dozing  in  the  charthouse,  when  the  second 
mate,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  deck,  roused  the 
pilot  with  the  news  that  the  course  he  had  set  was 
taking  her  too  close  in  shore.  Apparently  the  pilot 
called  out  sleepily,  "  Luff!  Luff! "  which  was  at 
once  obeyed  by  the  helmsman,  with  the  result  that 
Spindrift  slid  right  up  on  the  beach  with  the 
lighthouse  on  her  lee  bow.  And  she  had  so  much 
way  on  that  it  was  found  impossible  to  refloat  her, 
and  thus  the  beautiful  ship  became  a  total  loss. 

In  the  inquiry  which  followed  both  the  pilot  and 
captain  escaped  censure,  though  it  was  proved  that 
there  was  an  untried  leadsman  in  the  chains  and 
that  the  pilot  had  mistaken  a  star  for  the  Dunge- 
ness  Light. 

The  best  race  this  year  from  Foochow  was  that 
between  Thermopylae,  Sir  Lancelot  and  Norman 
Court.  On  12th  November  Sir  Lancelot  passed 
through  the  Downs  as  Therm^ylae  was  docking, 
and  at  the  same  time  Norman  Court  was  reported 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  307 

off  the  Start.  With  a  little  luck  the  latter  would 
have  done  the  best  passage  of  the  three,  but  no 
sooner  had  the  other  two  docked  than  N.E.  winds 
set  in  and  delayed  her  in  the  Channel. 

The  first  starters  from  Shanghai  were  Oberon, 
Titania  (both  of  which  had  loaded  up  at  Hankow) 
and  Cutty  Sark. 

Taking  into  consideration  the  abnormally  light 
winds  both  in  the  China  Seas  and  in  the  Atlantic, 
the  times  of  Titania  and  Cutty  Sark  were  very 
good.  Oberon  was  rather  unlucky  striking  such 
weather  and  had  to  steam  the  whole  way  from  the 
N.E.  trades  to  soundings,  and  was  obliged  to  coal 
both  at  Cape  Verd  and  Falmouth. 

Captain  Moodie  drove  Cutty  Sark  unmercifully 
in  his  efforts  to  make  a  notable  passage  in  spite  of 
a  constant  succession  of  light  head  winds,  but  he 
was  not  a  daring  navigator  of  the  Keay  type  and 
was  specially  cautious  in  the  China  Seas. 

The  following  is  an  abstract  from  Cutty  Sark' s  log — 

June  25 — 5  p.m.,  passed  the  lightship.  Midnight,  anchored  in  7  fathoms; 
strong  tide  and  no  wind. 

June  26 — ^4  a.m.,  got  underweigh,  light  southerly  breezes.  Amherst  Rocks 
bearing  N.  by  E.  J°  E.  3  miles. 

July  I — Tacked  6  miles  off  Tamsua  Harbour  (Formosa). 

July  2— At  10  a.m..  Turnabout  Island,  N.  by  W.  8  miles.  Wind  S.S.W., 
strong  and  short  head  sea.  (From  this  point  Cutty  Sark  beat  doggedly  down 
the  centre  of  the  China  Sea  to  the  Natunas  against  light  south-westerly  airs 
and  a  strong  current. 

July  23 — At  8  a.m.,  tacked  off  south-east  end  of  Great  Natuna.  (Captain 
Moodie,  though  favourably  placed  for  going  through  the  Api  Passage  and 
working  the  land  breezes  off  the  Borneo  Coast,  preferred  to  go  between 
the  Natunas.) 

July  24 — Blew  a  hard  gale  from  west  for  two  or  three  hours  and  Cutty 
Sark  had  to  be  shortened  down  to  lower  topsails  and  foresail. 


308  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

July  25— 7  p.m.,  passed  Direction  Island.      9.30  p.m.,  overhauled  and 
passed  a  steamer.     (Captain  Moodie  sacrificed  three  days  going  round  by  the 
Karamata  Passage  instead  of  cutting  through  Caspar  Strait.) 
August  I — North  Watcher  W.  by  S.  6  miles. 

Augusta — 9  a.m.,  a  boat  from  Anjer  came  aboard — sent  letters  to  be 
posted.  Noon,  St.  Nicholas  Point  bore  S.  by  E.  8  miles.  (During  the 
passage  down  the  China  Sea  Cutty  Sari  had  had  to  contend  against  728  miles- 
of  north-easterly  current. ) 

August  7  to  10— Daily  runs  were  303,  311,  320  and  314  miles.      Cutty 
Sari  had  carried  away  so  many  stunsails  booms  that  from  the  7  th  she  had  to 
go  for  some  days  without  stunsails. 
August  16 — Passed  Mauritius. 

August  28 — Rounded  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  in  a  strong  gale  from  N.  N.  W. 
September  8— At  9.30  a.m.  saw  St.  Helena  bearing  N.N.W. 
September  8-16— Very  light  S.E.  trades. 
September  12 — 10  p.m.,  passed  Ascension  4  miles  off. 
September  16 — Crossed  the  equator. 
September  :6-24 — Doldrum  weather. 
September  24— Took  N.E.  trades  in  14°  50'  N.,  26°  12'  W. 
September  28— Lost  N.E.  trades. 

September  29  to  October  5— Calms  and  light  airs  to  35°  N.,  33*  W. 
October  9—45"  28'  N.,  18°  35'  W.    Winds  west  to  N.W.     "Mostly  strong 
but  very  unsteady  both  in  force  and  direction.     Ship  is  sometimes  going  over 
14  knots,  at  others  barely   10  knots.      All  port  studding-sails  set   and   the 
broken  masts  and  yards  stand  pretty  stiff  to  it." 

October  10 — Strong  westerly   gale  with  ugly  sea  ;    ship  taking  water   at 
both  ends  at  once.     Run  290  miles. 

October  12— At  9.30  p.m.,  Beachy  Head  N.N.E.  10  miles.     Blowing  hard 
from  W. 

October  13 — At  7.30  a.m.,  anchored  in  the  Downs,  as  it  was  blowing  too 
hard  to  be  able  to  tow. 

Times  between  different  Points  : — 

Shanghai  to  Anjer  -  38  days 

Anjer  to  Mauritius  -  14   ,, 

Mauritius  to  the  Cape  -  12    „ 

The  Cape  to  St.  Helena  II    „ 

St.  Helena  to  Ascension  4   „ 

Ascension  to  the  Equator  4   ,, 

Equator  to  Cape  Verd  9   „ 

Cape  Verd  to  Western  Isles  11    ,, 

Western  Isles  to  Gravesend        -  7   ,, 

no  days  from  Shanghai, 
72  from  Anjer. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  best  passages  of  the 
year  were    made    by   the    late    starters,   who    had 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  309 

the  benefit  of  the  favourable  monsoon  in  the 
China  Seas. 

The  mere  fact  that  such  heelers  as  Leander  and 
I^ahloo  did  not  leave  China  until  October  shows  that 
already  steamers  which  took  advantage  of  the  Suez 
Canal,  such  as  the  West  Indian,  Achilles,  Nestor, 
JDiomed,  Agamemnon  and  Erl  King,  were  casting  a 
shadowover  the  trade  and  giving  more  than  a  hint  that 
the  day  of  the  racing  clipper  was  coming  to  an  end. 

However,  though  the  clippers  were  no  longer  the 
first  to  arrive  with  the  new  teas,  they  made  a  hard 
fight  of  it  and  still  raced  home  v^^ithout  sparing 
canvas.  Indeed,  the  racing  owners  were  far  from 
giving  up  the  contest  because  the  Canal  was  opened, 
and  during  1870  three  more  notable  ships  were  built 
to  carry  on  the  fierce  battle  between  sail  and  steam. 

The  Unlucky  "Black  Adder." 

The  first  of  these  was  John  Willis'  Black 
Adder.  A  ship  differs  from  every  other  work  of 
man  in  one  great  particular.  She  has  a  soul,  a 
living  personality,  which  personality  seems  to  be 
just  as  much  under  the  influence  of  the  Fates  as  that 
of  any  human  being. 

Some  ships  are  lucky  ships  and  bear  a  charmed 
life  in  which  everything  always  goes  right.  Others — 
and  any  old  seafarer  could  give  one  a  string  of 
names — seemed  to  be  placed  under  an  evil  spell  from 
the  very  day  of  their  launch  as  if  they  had  been 
born  under  an  unlucky  star. 


310  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Of  these,  perhaps  the  worst  are  the  "mankillers,"' 
ships  which,  without  ever  running  into  trouble 
themselves,  never  arrive  at  the  end  of  a  passage 
without  having  lost  men  in  some  way  or  other, 
sometimes  by  being  washed  overboard,  at  others  by 
falling  from  aloft  or  even  by  the  wholesale  scourge 
of  some  strange  disease  unknown  to  the  medical 
profession. 

Other  ships  gain  a  bad  name  for  experi- 
encing everlasting  head  winds,  gales  or  calms ;  for 
collisions,  strandings,  fires,  or  running  foul  of  ice ; 
for  a  crooked  disposition  of  some  sort  or  other,  such 
as  breaking  their  sheer  and  losing  anchors,  refusing 
to  manoeuvre  or  steer  on  occasions  as  if  they  had 
sudden  fits  of  the  sulks,  or  carrying  away  spars  and 
losing  sails  without  an  apparent  reason.  But 
occasionally  one  comes  across  a  ship  which  is 
unlucky  in  all  these  various  ways  and  then  one  may 
truly  speak  of  her  as — 

Built  i'  th'  eclipse  and  rigged  with  curses  dark. 

And  perhaps  no  ship  ever  deserved  this  description 
more  than  the  tea  clipper  Black  Adder. 

So  pleased  was  Captain  John  Willis  with  his 
wonderful  Tweed  that  he  was  not  content  to  build 
the  Cutty  Sark  on  her  lines,  but  also  must  needs 
order  two  iron  sister  clippers  to  be  built  with  the 
same  under-water  body  as  his  favourite. 

These  were  the  Black  Adder  and  Halloween,  the 
latter  of  which,  strangely  enough,  was  as  lucky  as 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 


311 


the  former  was  unlucky,  though  the  two  ships  were 
built  side  by  side  on  the  London  River  by  Messrs. 
Maudsley,  Sons  &  Field,  from  lines  taken  off  the 
Tweed  by  Messrs.  Ritherdon  and  Thompson,  the 
surveyors  to  the  East  India  Council. 

In  appearance  above  the  waterline  they  bore 
very  little  resemblance  to  Cutty  Sark,  and  had  the 
usual  iron  ship's  topgallant  foc's'le  and  short  turtle- 
backed  poop. 

The  following  comparison  of  their  measurements 
will  therefore  be  of  interest — 


Ship. 

Construc- 
tion. 

Net 
Tons. 

Gross 
Tons. 

Under 

Deck 

Tonnage. 

Length. 

Beam. 

Depth. 

Cutty  Sark     . 
Black  Adder  . 
Halloween      . 

Comp, 

Iron 

Iron 

921 

917 
920 

963 
970 
971 

892 
872 
873 

2I2-S 
216-6 
216-6 

36 

3S-2 

35-2 

21 

20-5 

20-5 

Unfortunately,  Maudsley  &  Co.  at  that  time 
had  had  more  experience  in  marine  engineering 
than  in  actual  shipbuilding,  and  this  fact  had 
undoubtedly  a  good  deal  to  do  with  Black  Adders 
early  misfortunes.  The  contract  for  the  building  of 
Black  Adder  vi&s  signed  at  the  end  of  June,  1869, 
and  she  was  launched  in  March,  1870,  having  been 
built  to  the  highest  requirements  at  Lloyd's  for  iron 
ships,  with  all  scantlings  and  materials  of  the 
best  and  a  complete  East  India  outfit  for  a  full- 
rigged  ship. 

The  first  evil  omen  in  Black  Adder's  life  was  the 
small   insignificant   fact   that  her  second  mate,  on 


312  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

leaving  his  home  in  Limehouse  to  join  the  ship 
after  her  launch,  found  that  he  had  left  his  purse 
behind  and  turned  back  to  get  it.  And  he  was 
greeted  at  the  door  by  his  mother,  a  sailor's 
daughter  and  sailor's  wife,  with  these  words — "You 
should  never  have  turned  back.  That  ship  will 
never  be  lucky."  No  prophecy  ever  proved 
more  true. 

They  began  to  load  the  Black  Adder  before  the 
masts  were  in  her  or  even  a  mate  appointed,  so  this 
same  second  mate,  a  boy  only  just  out  of  his  time, 
had  to  keep  one  eye  on  the  cargo  tallying  and  the 
other  on  the  riggers.  The  topmasts  were  hardly  on 
end  and  the  backstays  set  up  before  old  John  Willis 
came  along  and  noticed  that  the  backstays  were 
slack,  upon  which  he  immediately  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  they  could  not  have  been  properly 
set  up,  and  letting  loose  some  of  the  language  for 
which  he  was  celebrated,  he  ordered  the  second 
mate  to  see  that  the  riggers  set  them  up  taut.  The 
young  officer  replied  with  equal  heat  that  as  he 
was  tallying  at  two  hatches  at  once  he  could  hardly 
be  responsible  for  the  riggers'  work.  Upon  which 
Willis  thundered  that  he  was  no  use  as  an  officer 
unless  he  could  superintend  three  or  four  things  at 
once.  This  put  the  second  mate's  back  up,  and 
clapping  on  a  luff  tackle,  he  soon  had  those  back- 
stays as  taut  as  harpstrings. 

On  the  following  morning  Captain   John  again 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  313 

sent  for  him  and  pointed  to  the  backstays,  which 
were  as  slack  as  ever.  The  second  mate  explained 
what  he  had  done,  whereupon  the  cause  of  this 
strange  slacking  up  was  looked  for  and  it  was 
soon  seen  that  a  great  mistake  had  been  made 
by  the  builders. 

It  was  found  that  the  cheeks  which  were  bolted 
to  the  mast  to  support  the  trestle-trees  did  not 
extend  forward  to  their  full  length  but  only  half 
way,  so  that  a  foot  of  iron  angle  was  left  without 
support,  with  the  result  that  the  fid  of  the  topmast 
rested  on  the  angle  irons  outside  the  cheeks,  and, 
directly  the  topsail  yards  were  crossed,  the  trestle- 
trees  bent  right  down.  On  the  mistake  being 
discovered  we  may  be  sure  that  someone  got  into 
hot  water  with  peppery  old  John  Willis,  especially 
as  there  were  no  fewer  than  three  captains  supposed 
to  be  looking  after  the  outfitting  of  the  ship. 

The  next  question  was  what  to  do  to  remedy  the 
defect  Undoubtedly  what  they  should  have  done 
was  to  have  sent  down  the  topmasts  and  bolted  on 
fresh  cheeks  even  if  the  lower  masts  had  to  be 
lifted  out  to  do  it. 

What  they  did  do  was  to  bolt  on  false  cheeks  and 
put  stays  from  the  ends  of  the  trestle-trees  to  the 
caps  of  the  lower  masts,  but,  of  course,  they  could 
not  straighten  out  the  angle  irons,  and  this  was 
ultimately  the  cause  of  her  dismasting. 

She  was  very  heavily  rigged  with  a  mainyard  80 


314  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

feet  long  and  her  other  yards  in  proportion  up  to  a 
main  skysail,  and  this  meant  a  heavy  strain  oh  the 
defective  work.  Captain  Campbell,  the  rigger,  was 
evidently  very  distrustful  of  the  makeshift,  as  he 
cautioned  the  two  mates  with  these  words,  "You 
are  both  young  men,  be  very  careful." 

The  unlucky  Black  Adder  was  not  to  get  away 
from  London  without  further  trouble;  indeed,  she 
had  a  narrow  escape  of  being  sunk  in  dock.  When 
she  was  nearly  loaded  the  second  mate  happened  to 
be  going  round  the  after  hold  when  he  noticed 
daylight  coming  in  round  the  flange  of  a  pipe  which 
was  only  6  inches  above  the  water.  On  examina- 
tion it  was  found  that  there  was  nearly  \  inch  clear 
space  round  the  flange,  and  she  had  to  be  tripped 
by  the  head  before  this  could  be  put  right. 

At  last  the  ship  sailed,  and  she  was  no  sooner  at 
sea  than  she  kept  her  crew  constantly  busy  setting 
up  her  topmast  and  topgallant  backstays,  until, 
when  they  were  losing  the  S.E.  trades  with  the 
"roaring  forties"  close  ahead,  they  took  the  pre- 
caution of  putting  the  stream  chain  under  the  heel 
of  the  main  topmast,  which  was  the  worst  of  the 
three,  and  over  the  head  of  the  lower  mast.  But  in 
spite  of  this,  the  first  bit  of  a  blow  showed  that  the 
trouble  aloft  was  very  serious. 

However,  Black  Adder  was  as  unlucky  in  her 
captain  as  in  everything  else,  for  though  the  rivets 
through  the  cheeks  on  the  main  were  all  slackening 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  315 

up  he  would  do  nothing  except  send  the  skysail  yard 
down  on  deck.  The  carpenter  wanted  to  bore  a 
hole  through  the  cheeks  and  put  the  winch  handle 
through  it,  but  this  the  senseless  skipper  would  not 
hear  of.  The  main  topgallant  mast  should  also 
have  been  sent  down. 

Black  Adders  first  blow  was  not  very  severe,  but 
it  necessitated  extra  chain  lashings  aloft.  And  then 
a  severe  gale  overtook  her,  and  she  had  to  be  laid 
to  the  wind  under  a  main  lower  topsail. 

That  night,  in  the  first  watch,  the  steering  gear 
went  wrong  and  had  to  be  remedied.  Then  just 
before  eight  bells  (midnight),  the  fool-headed  skipper 
came  on  deck  and  found  that  the  wind  had  fallen 
away  and  shifted  a  few  points,  upon  which  he 
ordered  the  jib  to  be  set  and  all  hands  to  be  called 
for  wearing  ship.  This,  considering  the  state  of 
things  aloft,  was  a  most  foolish  and  risky  manoeuvre, 
and  it  should  have  been  evident  to  the  most 
inexperienced  that  with  no  sail  on  her  to  steady 
her  she  was  going  to  roll  badly  as  soon  as  she  got 
before  the  sea.  However,  the  old  man  was  in  such 
a  hurry  to  fall  out  of  the  frying  pan  into  the  fire  that 
he  ordered  the  helm  to  be  put  up  before  the  watch 
below  reached  the  deck.  In  squaring  the  mainyard 
the  young  second  mate,  whose  watch  it  was,  and 
who  fully  realised  the  danger,  was  careful  to  slack 
away  inch  by  inch,  so  as  not  to  give  the  yard  any 
play,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  his  captain  was  growl- 


316  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

ing  at  the  slowness  with  which  they  were  squaring 
the  yard.  The  second  mate,  however,  paid  no  heed 
to  his  captain,  but  kept  his  eyes  glued  on  the  Black 
Adder's  maintop.  Then  as  the  wind  came  aft  the 
expected  happened.  There  was  a  flash  of  fire  aloft. 
The  chains  had  parted!  In  a  moment  the  cheeks 
fell  adrift  from  the  mast,  and  down  fell  the  lower 
rigging  in  a  bight.  Without  its  support  the 
mainmast  began  to  heel  at  a  greater  angle  on  every 
roll,  and  the  ominous  words  "  Stand  clear "  and 
"  Look  out  for  yourselves "  ran  along  the  line  of 
men  at  the  braces. 

At  this  moment  the  mate  appeared  on  deck,  and, 
taking  in  the  situation  at  a  glance,  sang  out — 

"  Get  an  axe  and  nick  the  mast." 

"It's  nicked  right  enough,"  coolly  replied  the 
second  mate.  And  sure  enough  it  was.  Not  being 
wedged  in  the  partners  at  the  main  deck,  the  mast 
was  buckling  below  in  the  'tween  decks ;  and  as  it 
heeled  further  and  further  it  burst  up  the  main  deck, 
and  smashed  some  cases  of  glass,  which  were 
stowed  round  it,  with  a  tremendous  crashing.  This 
continued  for  a  few  minutes,  with  the  ship  rolling 
heavily  in  the  trough  of  the  sea.  Then  the  mast, 
hanging  at  an  angle  of  45  degrees  over  her  port 
side,  seemed  to  steady  her  a  little,  and  the  crew 
ventured  to  get  axes  to  cut  away  the  lanyards  ; 
but  before  they  could  use  them  an  extra  big  roller 
came    along    and    sent    the    mast    right    over    her 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  317 

Starboard  side.  In  its  fall  it  tore  up  the  main  deck 
planking  and  brought  its  broken  heel  up  flush  with 
the  rail. 

With  the  braces  all  gone,  the  after  yards — which 
were  now  flying  first  to  port  and  then  to  starboard 
every  time  she  rolled — threatened  to  come  clattering 
down  from  aloft.  Then,  as  she  began  to  come  head 
on  to  the  sea,  the  mizen  mast  itself  began  to  sway 
ominously  fore  and  aft. 

Both  watches  were  now  hard  at  work,  and  whilst 
the  starboard  watch  cut  the  mainmast  adrift  the 
port  clapped  a  luff  tackle  on  to  the  mizen  stay  in  an 
effort  to  save  that  mast.  Luckily,  for  all  concerned, 
the  mainmast  sank  clear  of  the  Black  Adders 
bottom  when  released  from  the  rigging  which  was 
holding  it.  This  fact  was  made  evident  by  the  way 
in  which  the  main  and  topsail  braces  unrove  and 
followed  it  down  into  the  depths. 

And  now  all  hands  tailed  on  to  the  tackle  that 
had  been  put  on  the  mizen  stay,  and  as  she  plunged 
forward  took  in  the  slack ;  but,  unfortunately,  the 
man  who  should  have  taken  a  turn  over  the  pin 
slipped  upon  the  wet  deck,  and,  as  she  lifted  aft,  the 
two  watches  could  not  hold  her,  so  away  went  the 
mizen  mast.  It  fell  across  the  taffrail,  just  missing 
the  wheel,  and  broke  on  the  rail.  Then  the  rattle 
of  gear  and  yards  over  the  side  began  to  bump 
under  her  quarter,  and  the  rudder  began  to  lift  in 
the  most  ominous  manner.     But  before  this  could 


318  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

be  attended  to  the  part  of  the  mizen  lower  mast, 
which  lay  across  the  poop,  had  to  be  got  rid  of,  and 
at  the  same  time  the  foremast — which,  having  all 
sail  furled  and  being  relieved  of  the  weight  of  the 
main  braces,  upper  stays,  etc.,  was  sagging  forward 
with  its  shrouds  all  slack — had  to  be  saved  from 
following  after  the  main  and  mizen  masts.  The 
mate  and  his  watch  at  once  set  about  swifting  in  the 
fore  rigging,  whilst  the  starboard  crowd  undertook 
the  dangerous  work  of  cutting  the  mizen  adrift,  and 
the  carpenter  got  up  some  sails  and  spread  them 
over  the  hole  made  when  the  deck  was  burst  up. 

All  this  time  the  seas  were  pouring  over  all  and 
down  into  the  hold,  and  this  so  unnerved  the  "old 
man  "  that  he  disappeared  below  and  was  not  seen 
again  until  late  next  day.  However,  the  mate 
succeeded  in  saving  the  foremast,  and  the  second 
mate  in  clearing  away  the  wreck  of  the  mizen, 
though  the  mast  threatened  to  roll  over  the  second 
mate  and  a  hand,  who  had  the  cutting  away  of  the 
starboard  lanyards,  the  two  just  managing  to  vault 
clear  as  it  went  over  the  side. 

The  Black  Adder  was  then  put  before  the  wind, 
whilst  the  two  mates  retired  for  a  smoke  to  discuss 
their  next  proceedings.  Both  the  fore  topsail  yards 
had  been  broken  at  the  tie  by  the  weight  of  the 
main  braces  when  the  mainmast  went,  and  the  fore 
topgallant  and  royal  yards  were  all  adrift.  However, 
it  was  impossible  to  do  any  work  aloft  until  daylight. 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  319 

It  was  also  found  that  the  wreck  of  the  mizen  had 
knocked  a  big  hole  under  her  quarter. 

As  soon  as  it  was  light  enough  to  see,  the  second 
mate  and  bo's'n  with  four  hands  clambered  aloft, 
the  second  mate  attending  to  the  topsail  yards  and 
the  bo's'n  to  the  topgallant.  This  was  a  most 
ticklish  and  difficult  business,  for  the  men  had  all 
they  knew  to  hang  on,  for  the  mast  was  so  insecurely 
stayed  that  on  one  roll  the  rigging  fell  in  bights  to 
leeward,  only  to  tauten  on  the  return  roll  with  a  jerk 
like  that  of  a  gigantic  catapult,  which  did  its  best  to 
shoot  the  men  off  into  the  sea.  A  mast  rope  was 
got  aloft  and  rove,  but  they  were  afraid  to  hoist  the 
lower  yards  clear  of  the  stays  for  fear  of  bringing 
the  whole  mast  down,  so  in  order  to  lower  the 
broken  yardarms  to  the  deck  they  had  to  cut 
through  the  iron  jackstays  and  the  sails  themselves. 
At  last,  at  2  p.m.,  the  topsail  yards  and  topgallant 
yard  were  safely  landed  on  deck  after  a  most 
arduous  and  dangerous  morning's  work. 

Two  men  were  next  sent  up  to  send  down  the 
royal  yard,  a  very  nasty  job,  which  one  of  them, 
Andersen,  a  Swede,  was  very  loath  to  tackle ;  but 
the  other,  a  native  of  Deal,  named  Stevens,  called 
out  heartily,  "Come  along,  mate,"  and  up  they 
went.  Unfortunately,  they  forgot  to  put  a  guy  on 
the  yard  before  unparelling,  and  as  soon  as  the  yard 
was  freed  it  flew  away  from  the  masthead  at  a  great 
angle.     Below  there  was  a  general  cry  of  "  Stand 


320  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

from  under!"  Meanwhile,  of  the  two  men  aloft, 
Andersen  was  clear,  but  Stevens  was  still  at  the 
topgallant  masthead,  and  he  only  just  had  time  to 
slide  down  the  mast  and  get  on  the  topmast  cap 
when  the  mast  broke  2  feet  above  him  and  by  a 
miracle  cleared  him. 

The  Black  Adder  was  now  fairly  dismantled, 
having  nothing  left  aloft  but  the  foreyard.  She 
was  2000  miles  from  the  Cape  and  1500  from  Rio, 
so  as  the  wind  was  southerly  and  she  had  a  big  hole 
in  her  quarter  her  head  was  turned  towards  Rio. 

Two  jury  masts  were  rigged,  and  a  topmast 
stunsail  and  a  staysail  set  on  each.  Then  the  fore 
topgallant  yard  was  lashed  to  the  fore  topmast,  and 
the  skysail  yard,  which  had  luckily  been  sent  down 
on  deck  before  the  dismasting,  was  lashed  to  the 
stump  of  the  topgallant  mast.  And  with  these 
three  sails  forward  they  were  able  to  set  a  topmast 
and  lower  stunsail. 

But  by  the  time  the  jury  rig  was  in  working 
order — three  days,  to  be  exact — the  wind  shifted 
and  came  out  of  the  west,  so  it  was  decided  to  run 
for  Simon's  Bay.  At  this  the  crew  refused  duty, 
saying  that  the  ship  wa6  not  in  a  fit  condition  to  go 
near  the  Cape.  However,  after  12  hours'  rest  they 
thought  better  of  it  and  turned  to  again. 

On  her  way  to  the  Cape  the  Black  Adder  fell  in 
with  the  St.  Mungo  of  Glasgow  at  daybreak  one 
morning.     The  Black  Adder  had  the  wind  abeam. 


THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS  321 

and  the  Si.  Mungo,  seeing  her  jury  rig,  bore  down 
from  to  windward  and  got  under  her  stern  with  the 
intention  of  speaking  her,  but  he  could  not  catch 
her  even  with  her  jury  lash  up. 

Luckily  for  the  lame  duck,  the  wind  came  south- 
east off  the  Cape  which  enabled  her  to  sail  up  False 
Bay  without  help.  However,  even  when  her  anchor 
was  on  the  ground,  she  was  not  free  from  mishap. 

First  of  all,  in  making  the  anchorage,  she  fouled 
a  hulk,  then  on  the  following  morning  a  barque  in 
getting  underweigh  collided  with  her,  and  before  she 
left  Simon's  Bay  still  another  vessel  ran  foul  of  her. 

After  some  delay  new  masts  and  spars  were  sent 
out  and  she  was  re-rigged,  though  the  new  masts  and 
spars  did  not  measure  anything  like  the  old  ones ; 
however,  at  last,  she  proceeded  for  Shanghai. 

Then,  when  she  was  half-way  up  the  China  Sea, 
she  was  run  into  by  the  French  mail  steamer  and 
cut  down  to  the  water's  edge,  but  once  again  she 
survived  her  misfortune  and  crawled  into  Shanghai, 

From  Shanghai,  on  being  again  repaired,  she 
sailed  for  Penang  to  load  home.  Whilst  at  Penang 
she  may  be  said  to  have  been  lucky  in  only  losing 
her  jibboom  in  a  collision,  and  she  eventually  sailed 
for  London  on  23rd  July,  1871,  arriving  home  on 
17th  November,  117  days  out. 

Meanwhile  the  underwriters  had  refused  to  pay 
her  claim  on  the  ground  that  she  was  unseaworthy 
because  the  cheeks  of  her  masts  had  been  secured 

X 


322  THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS 

with  tap  screws  instead  of  rivets,  and  the  under^ 
writers  won  the  day.  Whereupon  John  Willis 
went  for  the  builders,  and  lawsuits  over  the  unlucky 
ship  dragged  on  for  i8  months. 

Black  Adder's  incompetent  captain  was  at  once 
discharged  on  her  arrival  home  and  replaced  by 
Captain  Moore,  a  very  experienced  man  in  the 
China  trade.  He  took  her  out  to  Shanghai,  and 
brought  her  home  from  Foochow  in  123  days;  it 
was  a  lucky  voyage  for  the  bewitched  ship,  as  she 
only  had  one  collision  in  which  she  lost  her  mizen 
topgallant  mast. 

Moore  then  left  her  to  take  over  the  Cutty  Sark 
and  was  succeeded  by  Sam  Bisset,  who  had  been 
mate  of  her  on  her  first  voyage.  He  took  her  out 
to  Sydney,  and  then  loaded  coal  for  Shanghai.  In 
crossing  the  Pacific,  Black  Adder  ran  into  a 
typhoon  and  was  thrown  on  her  beam  ends.  Bisset 
cut  away  the  main  and  mizen  masts,  but  she  would 
not  right  herself  and  it  was  then  found  that  the  coal 
had  shifted.  However,  after  great  exertions,  the 
coal  was  trimmed  over  and  she  managed  to  struggle 
into  Shanghai.  After  her  lost  masts  and  spars  had 
again  been  replaced  with  smaller  ones,  she  went  to 
Iloilo  and  loaded  for  Boston. 

Black  Adder  left  Iloilo  on  22nd  October,  1873, 
in  company  with  the  Albyns  Isle,  a  barque  which 
was  bound  to  Melbourne.  With  the  N.E.  monsoon 
apparently  firmly  set  in,  the  two  vessels  steered  to 


THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS  323 

enter  the  China  Sea  by  the  Balabac  Strait.  Two 
days  out,  however,  when  off  the  St.  Michel's 
Island,  the  wind  shifted  to  the  westward,  and  they 
had  to  work  towards  Balabac  against  a  strong  S.E. 
current  in  light  airs,  calms  and  sudden  squalls. 
They  did  not  reach  Banguey  Island  until  and 
November,  when  both  vessels  anchored  for  the 
night.  They  got  underweigh  again  at  daylight  on 
the  3rd,  but  could  make  very  little  headway  against 
the  strong  easterly  current.  The  wind  came  in 
squalls  from  S.W.  with  torrents  of  rain  and  thick 
cloudy  weather. 

About  4  p.m.  Black  Adder  stuck  on  an  uncharted 
reef — where  there  should  have  been  30  fathoms  of 
water — and  began  to  pound  heavily  on  the  rocky 
bottom.  Captain  Bisset  at  once  began  throwing 
cargo  overboard  in  order  to  lighten  the  vessel,  but 
finding  this  without  avail  at  length  transferred  his 
crew  to  the  Albyns  Isle,  which  had  run  down  to  be 
of  assistance.  But  no  sooner  were  Black  Adders 
crew  aboard  the  barque,  before  a  squall  off  the  land 
took  flie  stranded  ship  full  aback,  and  backed  her 
off  the  reef,  and  away  she  went  as  if  steered  by 
some  demon.  It  took  the  Albyns  Isle  4  hours  to 
catch  her  in  order  to  put  Captain  Bisset  and  his 
•crew  aboard.  Luckily  owing  to  the  extra  strength 
of  her  iron  plates  Black  Adder  sustained  no  injury 
from  her  pounding,  but  her  bottom  was  very  foul 
and  she  made  a  terribly  long  passage  to  Boston, 


324  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

On  her  fourth  voyage,  a  Captain  White  tried  his 
hand  at  her  and  soon  found  what  he  was  in  for,  as 
she  broke  her  windlass  when  anchored  off  the 
North  Foreland  and  nearly  killed  her  new  master 
besides  losing  her  anchor  and  chain. 

And  so  she  went  on,  always  just  escaping 
destruction  in  spite  of  numerous  mishaps.  After 
her  fatal  voyages  in  the  China  trade,  Willis  put  her 
into  the  Sydney  trade,  where  she  was  well  known 
for  many  years.  Finally  in  the  nineties,  when 
Willis's  fleet  were  sold,  she  went  to  the  Norwegians 
and  only  disappeared  from  the  register  about 
eight  years  ago. 

"HaUowe'en." 

Whilst  John  Willis  disputed  in  the  Law 
Courts  with  underwriters  and  builders,  Black 
Adder's  sister  ship,  Hallowe' en,  lay  finished,  but  not 
delivered,  for  it  was  not  until  the  final  lawsuit  had 
been  settled  that  she  was  handed  over.  Then, 
having  loaded  for  Sydney,  she  set  sail  in  charge  of 
Captain  Watt  of  Peterhead ;  but,  to  everyone's 
surprise,  she  put  back  from  the  Chapman,  it  being 
alleged  that  she  was  leaking  badly  and  that  the 
pilot.  Daddy  Daines,  had  refused  to  proceed  in 
spite  of  all  the  importunities  of  the  furious  captain, 
who  scoffed  at  the  very  idea  of  putting  back  for  a 
little  water  in  the  well. 

Halloween  was   re-docked  and  the  cargo  taken 
out,  when   it  was   found   that  while   she   had   lain 


THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS  325 

waiting  to  be  handed  over  by  the  builders,  an 
amount  of  fain  water  had  run  into  the  hold,  which, 
owing  to  dirt  being  carelessly  left  in  the  limbers, 
had  not  been  able  to  flow  into  the  well,  and  her 
movement  in  a  seaway  had  caused  this  water  to  free 
itself  so  that  her  well  was  suddenly  discovered  to  be 
full  of  water,  which  gave  the  impression,  of  course, 
that  she  had  sprung  a  bad  leak. 

On  making  a  fresh  start,  she  again  roused  the 
anxiety  of  those  interested  in  her  by  washing  away 
her  head  boards  in  the  mouth  of  the  Channel. 
These  were  picked  up,  and  as  she  was  not  spoken 
during  the  passage  grave  fears  were  entertained 
for  her  safety.  However,  anxiety  was  changed  to 
jubilance  when  the  news  arrived  that  she  had  made 
Sydney  in  the  wonderful  time  of  69  days,  her 
abstract  showing  that — 

She  sailed  on  ist  July,  1872  ;  crossed  the  line  in 
long.  27°  W.,  on  20th  July,  19  days  out;  crossed 
the  meridian  of  the  Cape  in  lat.  42°  S.,  on  loth 
August,  40  days  out ;  and  arrived  Sydney,  on  8th 
September,  24  days  from  the  Cape  Meridian.  In 
this  passage  Halloween  proved  that  she  had  a 
remarkable  turn  of  speed  especially  in  light  winds. 

Her  speed  in  light  winds,  which  was  most 
unusual  for  an  iron  ship,  was  chiefly  attributed  to 
the  way  in  which  her  masts  were  raked.  This  was 
in  Chinese-junk  fashion,  the  foremast  having  a 
slight  rake  forward,  the   mainmast   being   upright, 


326  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

and  the  mizen  raked  aft.  This  gave  more  spread 
to  her  very  big  sail  plan,  and  kept  her  sails  from 
blanketing  each  other,  which  is  one  of  the  draw- 
backs when  all  three  masts  are  raked  alike. 

Halloween,  though  she  so  closely  resembled 
Cutty  Sark  in  her  underwater  body,  never  was 
able  to  make  such  big  24-hour  runs  as  the 
composite  clipper,  though  she  was  an  exceedingly 
fast  ship  all  round  in  anything  up  to  a  fresh  breeze. 

She  was  also  a  very  dry  ship  and  a  good  sea 
boat,  and  under  Captain  Watt  made  passages  both 
in  the  Australian  and  China  runs  which  have 
never  been  excelled. 

"Lothair." 

The  last  out-and-out  composite  tea  clipper 
of  the  type  of  Ariel  to  be  built  was  the  beautiful 
little  Lothair.  She,  however,  kept  mostly  to  the 
Japan  and  Manila  trade,  and  as  a  rule  went  to  New 
York  instead  of  London,  so  that  coming  on  the 
scene  so  late  in  the  day  and  rarely  joining  in  with 
the  crack  ships  which  got  the  first  London  teas,  she 
has  been  rather  overlooked  when  the  records  of  the 
tea  clippers  have  been  spoken  about. 

However,  with  regard  to  her  speed,  here  is  the 
testimony  of  an  American  skipper,  who  was  once 
a  well-known  passage  maker  in  the  American 
Cape  Horn  trade — 

"  The  fastest  ship,  I  think,  that  ever  left  the  ways 
was  the  Lothair.     I'll  tell  you  what  happened  to 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  327 

me  once :  I  was  second  mate  of  a  Newbury  Port 
ship  and  we  were  running  our  easting  down  bound 
out  to  Canton,  and  were  somewhere  near  Tristan 
d'Acunha,  when  we  sighted  a  vessel  astern.  It  was 
blowing  hard  from  the  nor' west,  and  the  next  time 
I  looked  a  couple  of  hours  later,  there  was  the  ship 
close  on  our  quarter,  and  we  doing  12  knots. 
'  Holy  jiggers,'  says  I  to  the  mate,  '  there's  the 
Flying  Dutchman.' 

"'No,'  says  he  'it's  the  Thermopylae'  But 
when  she  was  abeam  a  little  later,  she  hoisted  her 
name,  the  Lothair,  and  it's  been  my  opinion  ever 
since  that  she  was  making  close  to  17  knots." 

Like  Hallowe'en,  however,  Lothair  was  really  at 
her  best  in  light  winds,  when  even  Taeping  or 
y^rzW/ would  have  found  her  a  tough  nut  to  crack, 
but  in  heavy  weather  she  was  not  large  or  powerful 
enough  to  equal  the  records  of  Cutty  Sark. 

She  was  very  heavily  sparred,  crossing  a  main 
skysail,  and  under  such  hard  drivers  as  Captains 
Orchard  and  Tom  Boulton  she  made  some  splendid 
passages  in  the  New  York  trade. 

Ontward  Passages  in  1870»71. 

The  best  outward  passage  to  China  in  the 
winter  of  1870-71  was  made  by  the  Cutty  Sark, 
the  following  being  an  abstract  from  her  log — 

November  10 — 3  a.in.,  passed  through  the  Downs.     2  p.m.,  signalled  St. 
Catherine's.     9  p.m.,  Start  Point  north  8  miles ;  wind  north  moderate. 
November  29— Crossed  the  equator  in  25*  W.  ;  19  days  out. 
December  17 — Crossed  meridian  of  Greenwich  in  41*  42'  S.;  37  days  out. 


328  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

December  19— Run  320.     Strong  northerly  breeze. 

December  21— Crossed  meridian  of  the  Cape  in  43°  50'  S.;  41  days  out. 

December  23— Run  318.     Strong  S.W.  breeze. 

December  31— Run  326.     Strong  northerly  breeze. 
January  20 — 5  a.m.,  sighted  Sandalwood  Island. 

January  24 — In  Ombay  Passage  in  company  with  Titania  and  Taeping. 
(Titania  left  London  27th  October  and  Taeping  17th  October.) 

January  28 — A  moderate  breeze  right  down  the  Manipa  Strait.  At  4  a.m. 
a  heavy  thunder  squall  when  just  in  the  narrowest  part  of  the  Strait.  Night 
pitchy  dark  and  with  the  darkness  and  lightning  it  was  impossible  to  see  any- 
thing. Hove-to  until  daylight.  At  6  a.m.  Taeping  in  sight  and  American 
clipper  Surprise,  New  York  to  Shanghai  95  days.  Noon,  Titania  came 
through  the  Strait  with  a  fair  wind  whilst  Cutty  Sark  lay  becalmed  outside. 

January  29 — Baffling  airs  and  calms.  Titania  and  Taeping  in  company  to 
eastward.     Surprise  out  of  sight  astern. 

January  30 —  Titania  and  Taeping  in  company  close  at  hand.  (Just  after 
noon  Captain  Moodie  went  on  board  Titania  and  returned  at  i .  30  p.  m.  with 
Captain  Dowdy,  who  returned  to  his  ship  at  3.30  p.m.) 

January  31 — Faint  airs  and  calms,     Titania  and  Taeping  a  few  miles  off. 

February  l — Not  a  breath  of  wind  up  to  noon.  Titania,  Taeping  and 
Surprise  in  company.  P.M.  breeze  from  N.W.  Titania  and  Taeping 
dropped  out  of  sight  astern. 

February  2 — Faint  airs.     Surprise  still  in  sight. 

February  4 — 10  a.m.,  canoes  of  natives  came  off  from  North  Island  to 
trade  cocoanuts  and  small  shells  for  old  iron. 

February  5 — First  of  N.E.  monsoon.     Unsettled  and  squally. 

February  13 — Squally.  Fore  topsail  tie  broke,  which  broke  cap  on 
lower  masthead. 

February  14 — Strong  gale  and  head  sea.  Split  main  topmast  staysail  and 
broke  main  topsail  tie.     Blowing  hard  with  snow  at  times. 

February  16 — 4  p.m.,  got  a  pilot;  6.30  p.m.,  passed  the  lightvessel;  9. 30 
p.m.,  anchored  in  the  river. 

98  days  out  from  London  to  Shanghai. 

Cutty  Sark's  great  rival,  Thermopylae,  also  did  a 
wonderful  passage  out,  after  a  great  race  with 
Norman  Court,  Thermopylae  being  bound  to 
Melbourne  and  Norman  Court  to  Shanghai. 

It  was  bitterly  cold  weather  when  Norman  Court 
towed  down  the  Thames,  and  on  23rd  December 
she  ran  into  the  Downs  in  a  snow  blizzard,  having 
carried  away  her  main  topgallant  yard  and  narrowly 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  329 

escaped  piling  up  on  the  Brake  Sands.  All 
Christmas  Eve  she  lay  in  the  Downs  frost-bound 
and  with  a  foot  of  snow  over  all.  The  same  day 
Thermopylae  left  London.  She  also  had  trouble, 
losing  an  anchor  off  the  Nore  and  not  getting 
through  the  Downs  until  the  26th. 

Norman  Court  managed  to  get  away  from  the 
Downs  on  Christmas  morning  with  a  northerly 
wind,  but,  whilst  she  was  held  up  by  a  couple  of 
days,  doldrum  weather  off  the  Lizard,  Thermopylae 
came  romping  down  Channel  with  a  strong  nor'- 
easter  behind  her,  and  was  nearly  up  with  Norman 
Court  before  the  latter  took  the  same  wind. 

Norman  Court  passed  Madeira  eight  days  out 
from  the  Downs. 

On  13th  January  the  equator  was  crossed  by 
both  clippers,  Norman  Court  being  19  days  and 
Thermopylae  18  days  from  the  Downs. 

On  2nd  February  the  two  ships  were  in  company 
on  the  meridian  of  the  Cape,  but  they  parted  finally 
here,  as  Thermopylae  ran  her  easting  down  on  a 
more  southerly  parallel.  However,  though  out  of 
sight  of  each  other,  the  race  continued  to  be  of  the 
closest  description,  and  on  the  day  that  Thermopylae 
arrived  at  Melbourne  Norman  Court  passed  the 
South  Cape,  Tasmania.  This  was  on  2nd  March, 
Thermcpylae's  passage  being  only  65  days. 

Meanwhile,  Norman  Court  continued   to   make 
good  running,  and,  passing  Norfolk  Island  70  days 


330  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

out,  arrived  off  Sulphur  Island,  near  the  Saddle 
Group,  103  days  from  the  Downs.  Here  the 
weather  grew  so  thick  that  Captain  Shewan  was 
obliged  to  heave  to.  But  about  4  p.m.  the  fog 
lifted  and  showed  a  ship  coming  up  from  the 
southard  with  stunsails  alow  and  aloft.  This  proved 
to  be  the  Sir  Lancelot,  which  had  sailed  from 
London  a  fortnight  before  Norman  Court.  The 
two  ships  were  soon  close  enough  to  exchange 
signals,  but  with  nightfall  the  fog  closed  down  again, 
and  they  were  obliged  to  stand  off  shore  together. 
Norman  Court,  however,  tacked  at  midnight,  and, 
crawling  in  with  the  lead,  picked  up  a  pilot,  and  so 
got  into  Shanghai  a  day  ahead  of  Sir  Lancelot, 
which  performance  was  considered  a  great  feather 
in  Shewan's  cap,  and  rnade  him  the  hero  of  the 
hour  amongst  Shanghai  shipping  people. 

Tea  Passages  of  1871. 

Owing  to  the  slump  in  tea  rates,  and  the 
increasing  competition  of  steamers  using  the  Suez 
Canal,  the  clipper  fleet  was  very  much  scattered  in 
1 87 1,  only  three  ships  of  any  racing  renown  loading 
at  Foochow,  whilst  the  veterans  Fiery  Cross  and 
Flying  Spur  deserted  the  London  trade  for  that  of 
New  York  and  loaded  in  Yokohama.  Sir  Lancelot, 
also,  and  Erne  took  Shanghai  tea  to  America ;  and 
Belted  Will  which  had  been  faithful  to  Whampoa 
for  so  long,  went  to  Manila  for  a  cargo.  Then 
Kaisow  went  to  Amsterdam  from   Batavia.      And 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  331 

Other  celebrated  ships,  such  as  Leander,  Wylo, 
Windhover,  Taeping,  and  Serica,  were  all  missing 
from  the  racing  fleet,  of  which  the  chief 
starters  were  : — 


Ship. 

Captain. 

Port  Left. 

Left. 

Passed 
Anjer. 

Arrived. 

Days 
Out. 

Thermopylae  .     . 

Kemball 

Shanghai 

June  22 

July  22 

Oct.    6 

io6 

Forward  Ho  . 

Hossack 

»     24 

— 

„     20 

n8 

Undine      .     .     . 

Scott 

»     27 



„     16 

III 

Tiiania 

Dowdy 

Foochow 

July     1 

July  28 

»         2 

9,S 

Maitland  .     .     . 

Reid. 

„       8 

— 

Nov.    9 

124 

Norman  Court 

Shewan 

Macao 

..     15 

Aug.    8 

»       3 

III 

Lahloo.      .     .     . 

Smith 

Foochow 

..     27 

Sept.  2 

..     IS 

III 

Ctttty  Sark     .     . 

Moodie 

Shanghai 

Sept.  4 

Oct.     5 

Dec.  20 

107 

Ariel     .... 

Talbot 

»> 

»      4 

— 

,,    27 

114 

Titania  was,  of  course,  the  heroine  of  the  year, 
and  actually  passed  Thermopylae  between  Anj"er 
and  the  Channel,  a  performance  that  Captain 
Dowdy  had  a  just  right  to  be  proud  of. 

Cutty  Sark  was  again  rather  unlucky  with  her 
winds,  and  experienced  very  bad  weather  rounding 
Agulhas.  However,  she  made  up  time  on  the  last 
lap  by  running  from  the  Western  Isles  to  the  Start 
in  7  days,  on  one  of  which,  i8th  September,  she 
made  323  miles  in  the  24  hours  before  a  strong 
S.W.  wind  and  heavy  sea. 

It  was  the  beautiful  Ariel's  last  race,  as  she  was 
posted  as  missing  when  outward  bound  in  1872,  the 
general  belief  being  that  she  was  badly  pooped  and 
broached  to  when  running  her  easting  down.  She 
was  always  a  ticklish  vessel  to  handle,  especially 
when   running  heavy,   owing   to   her  fineness  aft, 


332  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

and  that  she  broached  to  and  foundered  with  all 
hands  seems  to  be  the  most  likely  explanation 
of  her  disappearance. 

The  China  Trade  in  1872. 

The   year    1872    was    fatal    to    three    other 
well-known  clippers.      The  old  Ellen  Rodger  was 
wrecked   in   the   Java    Seas,    Yangtze  disappeared 
from  the  register,  and  Lahloo,  through  the  fault  of 
her   second    mate,    was    piled    up    on    Sandalwood 
Island  on  30th  July.     The  year,  however,  opened 
well    for    the    China    clippers.       Freights    on    the 
coast  were  booming,  and  the  rates  for   rice   from 
Shanghai  to  Swatow  and  Wharapoa  were  altogether 
phenomenal  in  the  early  months  of  the  year.      In 
the  previous  year  the  clippers  had  been  carrying 
rice  between  the  Chinese  ports  at  1 2  cents  a  pical, 
but  in  January  and  February,  1872,  80  and  90  cents 
were  freely  paid. 

Titania,  arriving  in  February  after  a  quick 
passage  out,  did  so  well  that  she  was  able  to  leave 
for  home  on  25th  May. 

Undine,  however,  was  the  lucky  ship  of  the  year. 
She  secured  the  record  rate  of  102  cents  a  pical 
from  Shanghai  to  Swatow,  and  then,  getting  on  the 
berth  early,  loaded  tea  at  ;^4  los.,  and  on  the  whole 
voyage  all  but  cleared  her  own  value  in  profit. 

Norman  Court,  arriving  just  at  the  end  of  the 
high  rates,  succeeded  in  getting  40  cents  a  pical  or 
32s,  6d.  a  ton  for  rice  from  Shanghai  to  Swatow, 


TBE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  333 

and  then  went  up  to  Japan  and  took  Japanese  rice 
to  Hong  Kong  at  50  cents  before  going  on  to 
Whampoa  to  load  tea. 

Cutty  Sark  and  Sir  Lancelot  were,  however,  too 
late  to  participate  in  these  good  rates.  The  two 
ships  did  not  leave  London  until  8th  and  loth 
February  respectively,  but  had  a  keen  race  out 
to  Shanghai,  Cutty  Sark  managing  to  beat  her 
redoubtable  opponent  by  just  a  week  and  arriving 
on  28th  May.  However,  it  is  only  fair  to  state  that 
on  her  arrival  in  New  York,  November  of  187 1, 
Sir  Lancelot  had  had  her  racing  kentledge  (100 
tons)  taken  out  to  increase  her  deadweight  capacity. 

Tea  Passages  of  1872. 


Ship. 

Captain. 

Port  Left. 

Lett. 

Passed 
Anjer. 

Arrived, 

Days 
Out. 

116 

Titania      .     .     . 

Dowdy 

Macao 

May  25 

_ 

Sept.  19 

Cutty  Sark      .     . 

Moodie 

Shanghai 

Tune  l8 

July  19 

Oct.   18 

122 

Thermopylae  .     . 

Kemball 

*» 

„     i8 

1.     19 

1,      12 

"5 

Undine.     .     .     ■ 

Shearer 

}, 

•>     24 

Aug.    4 

„     17 

"S 

Blatk  Adder   .     . 

Moore 

Foochow 

11     27 

11      9 

.1     28 

123 

Sir  Lancelot    .     . 

Edmonds 

fi 

July     7 

Nov.    6 

122 

Maitland  .     .     . 

Reid 

II 

„     19 

— 

.1       6 

1 10 

Harlaw      .     .     . 

— 

II 

Aug.    I 

Sept.   8 

,,     21 

112 

Doune  Castle  .     . 

Erskine 

Shanghai 

»       I 

— 

Dec.    2 

123 

Falcon  .... 

Dann 

Macao 

11      4 

Sept.   6 

Nov.  21 

109 

Taitsing    .     .     . 

Bloomfield 

Shanghai 

II       ° 

— 

Dec.    2 

116 

Norman  Court    . 

Shewan 

Macao 

Sept.  14 

Oct.    S 

1,     18 

95 

Ziba 

Green 

Foochow 

Oct.    I 

Jan.   16 

107 

Erne 

Sproule 

II 

11      4 

Oct.  26 

1,     14 

102 

Fiery  Cross     .     . 

Murray 

Shanghai 

Dec.    S 

April  2 

119 

Of  the  clippers  which  did  not  load  for  London, 
Serica  left  Hong  Kong  for  Monte  Video;  Belted 
Will  left  Iloilo  for  Boston ;  Wylo  Yokohama  for 
New  York ;   Forward  Ho  Manila  for  New  York  \ 


334  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Chinaman  Shanghai  for  New  York ;  and  Flying 
Spur  and  Black  Prince  left  Foochow  for  New  York. 
Norman  Court  distinguished  herself  this  year,  not 
only  by  making  the  best  passage  home,  but  by 
weathering  out  a  very  severe  typhoon  in  the 
China  Seas. 

** Norman  Court"  in  a  Typhoon. 

As  usual,  she  took  her  last  250  tons  of 
tea  aboard  at  Macao,  after  loading  the  rest  at 
Whampoa,  and  on  14th  September  the  last  lighter 
came  off,  but  the  wind  was  blowing  so  hard  from 
the  N.E.  and  the  sea  was  so  rough  that  it  was 
unable  to  lie  alongside.  However,  it  was  brought 
under  the  Norman  Court's  lee,  and  the  chests 
tossed  aboard  and  caught  by  hand. 

By  3  p.m.  the  weather  had  grown  worse  with 
heavy  squalls,  and  the  agent,  who  had  come  aboard 
to  say  goodbye  and  get  the  bills  of  lading  signed, 
had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  regaining  the  junk, 
which  took  five  hours  putting  him  ashore,  and  a 
very  perilous  five  hours  it  was. 

Meanwhile,  the  Norman  Court  was  finding  it  no 
easy  job  to  get  her  anchor  with  such  a  strong 
nor'-easter  blowing.  However,  by  6  p.m.  she  had 
catted  it,  and,  setting  all  sail  to  her  main  royal,  sped 
away  dead  before  the  wind  at  a  tremendous  pace. 

Though  the  weather  looked  wild  the  glass  had 
not  begun  to  fall,  and  no  one  anticipated  what  was 
coming.     But  as  soon  as  she  cleared  the  islands  the 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  33S 

Norman  Court  encountered  a  nasty  sea  rolling  up 
on  her  port  beam.  Old  Captain  Shewan,  who  was 
not  at  all  well,  still  put  his  faith  in  the  glass,  and, 
leaving  the  ship  in  charge  of  his  son,  went  below  to 
rest,  with  the  usual  request  to  be  called  if  there  was 
any  change. 

Young  Shewan  lost  no  time  in  preparing  for  bad 
weather,  which,  in  spite  of  the  glass,  he  believed  to 
be  coming.  The  boats  were  got  in  off  the  skids 
and  lashed  on  chocks  to  the  deck.  Extra  lashings 
were  put  on  the  spare  spars  and  extra  gaskets  aloft. 
The  main  royal  soon  had  to  come  in.  And  by 
midnight  the  weather  was  looking  wilder  than  ever, 
and,  a  still  more  ominous  sign,  the  barometer  had 
begun  to  fall. 

At  eight  bells  the  old  man  was  called,  and,  after 
one  look  round,  he  turned  to  the  mate  and  said : — 

"  We're  in  for  it.  Get  the  sail  off  her  as  quick 
as  you  can." 

Young  Shewan  began  with  the  foresail  (the 
mainsail  had  never  been  loosed),  but  by  the  time 
that  was  fast  the  upper  topsails  were  blowing 
to  ribbons. 

By  four  bells  sail  had  been  reduced  to  a  main 
lower  topsail,  but  the  wind  had  increased  to  such  an 
extent  that  the  mainsail  and  other  sails,  in  spite  of 
extra  gaskets,  were  blowing  adrift.  Until  3  a.m. 
the  wind  held  in  the  north-east,  but  it  then  began  to 
back  very  rapidly  to  north  and  nor'-west.     Shewan 


336  THE   CHINA    CUPPERS 

was  obliged  to  keep  his  ship  dead  before  it,  an4 
with  the  easterly  sea,  Norman  Court  began  td 
plunge  into  it  very  heavily,  and  washed  two  men 
under  the  spare  spars,  hurting  them  severely. 
Captain  Shewan  then  told  his  son  to  get  the  main 
lower  topsail — the  only  rag  set — off  her.  Yet, 
though  all  hands  were  sent  to  the  braces,  the  yards 
braced  by,  and  the  clew  line  well  manned,  as  soon 
as  the  sheet  was  started  the  lower  topsail  gave  one 
shake  and  was  gone. 

By  daylight  the  Norman  Court  was  running  due 
east  under  bare  poles  with  two  men  at  the  wheel ; 
she  was  going  like  a  mad  thing  and  plunging  to  the 
foremast,  but  shipped  no  water  aft.  The  sea  was 
like  a  boiling  cauldron,  leaping  high  up  on  both 
sides  of  her  and  falling  over  both  rails  at  once. 
The  wind  was  like  a  thousand  furies  and  the  rain 
fell  in  solid  sheets. 

A  whole  suit  of  sails  was  blown  out  of  the 
gaskets,  the  forward  brace  and  other  blocks  being 
jammed  with  lumps  of  torn  canvas,  and  the  service 
of  the  backstays,  etc.,  was  white  with  the  threads  of 
canvas  blown  on  to  and  tightly  wound  round  them. 

It  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  the  men 
remained  at  the  wheel,  and  in  order  to  get  aft  to  see 
the  course  steered,  the  captain  and  mates  were 
compelled  to  lie  down  and  crawl  along  the  deck. 
After  one  of  these  journeys,  the  mate,  as  he  raised 
himself,  was  picked  up  by  the  wind  like  a  feather 


THE   CHINA    CUPPERS  337 

and  hurled  forward  until  brought  up  by  the  poop 
rail.  The  second  mate,  who  had  come  on  deck  in 
only  a  shirt  and  trousers,  had  the  shirt  ripped  off 
his  back  and  whirled  away  into  the  skud-filled  sky. 

The  Norman  Court  ran  clean  round  a  circle,  and 
about  daylight  the  centre  must  have  been  very 
close  aboard  by  the  rapidity  with  which  the  wind 
shifted.  But  though  the  sea  heaped  up  in  pyramids 
on  each  side  of  her,  she  was  as  lively  as  a  lifeboat, 
and  a  passenger  who  was  watching  the  terrifying 
scene  from  the  top  of  the  main  hatch  was  full  of 
admiration  at  her  behaviour.  He  happened  to  be  a 
seaman  who  had  sailed  in  the  Lord  of  the  Isles,  and 
he  declared  that  that  ship  would  never  have  lived 
through  such  a  sea. 

By  6  a.m.,  the  Norman  Court,  which  had  been 
steering  S.W.  when  the  typhoon  began,  was  steer- 
ing N.E.,  and  at  8  o'clock  she  was  steering  north. 
The  glass  now  began  to  rise  and  Captain  Shewan 
decided  to  bring  her  to. 

As  they  brought  her  to  the  wind  she  lay  down  so 
far  as  to  show  that,  if  this  manoeuvre  had  been 
attempted  earlier,  she  would  have  either  gone  right 
over  or  they  would  have  had  to  cut  away  the  sticks 
to  save  the  ship. 

When  she  came  head  to  sea  the  lookout,  who  had 
not  been  called  off  the  foc's'le  head,  w£is  washed  aft, 
and,  bringing  up  against  the  foremast,  nearly  broke 
his  back 


338  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

The  typhoon,  though  it  did  not  last  long,  tried  the 
ship  to  her  utmost,  but  she  ran  beautifully  and 
behaved  to  the  admiration  of  her  crew,  emerging 
from  her  buffeting  in  the  most  triumphant  manner, 
for  beyond  the  loss  of  her  sails  which  were  blown 
out  of  the  double  gaskets,  she  did  not  strand 
a  rope  yarn. 

Her  crew,  however,  did  not  escape  so  easily, 
many  of  the  men  being  badly  knocked  about,  whilst 
the  two  mates  were  so  hoarse  from  shouting 
commands  in  the  screaming  wind  that  they  could 
not  speak  above  a  whisper  for  days  afterwards. 

Having  survived  this  strenuous  opening  to  her 
passage,  Norman  Court  now  proceeded  to  make  a 
splendid  run  home,  as  the  following  abstract 
will  show : — 

Norman  Court,  Macao  to  London,  1872. 

Sept.  14 — Left  Macao  6  p.m. 

Sept.  21 — Off  Pulo  Cambii,  Cochin  China  -  7  days  out 

Sept  26 — Great  Natuna,  S.  end  W.  by  N.  20  miles     -       12  „ 

Oct      2 — Gaspar  Island,  W.  by  S.  10  miles  -                18  ,, 

Oct.      5 — Passed  Anjer  4  p. m.  -        -  21  ,, 

Oct    24 — Passed  meridian  of  Cape  St.  Mary,  Madagascar  40  ,, 

Nov.     5 — Rounded  Cape  Agulhas  52  „ 

Nor.   14— Sighted  St.  Helena  61  ,, 

Nov.   19 — Sighted  Ascension      -  66  ,, 

Nov.  23 — Crossed  the  line  10  p.m.  -               70  ,, 

Dec     3— Passed  latitude  of  S.  Antonio     •  -               80  „ 

1          Dec.   II— Flores,  S.  by  E.  4  E.  CorvoEast  88  „ 

Dec.    17 — Made  the  Lizard        •        -  94  „ 

Dec.   18 — Anchored  in  the  Downs      ■        -  -        •      95  „ 

And  the  Baring  clipper  had  a  magnificent  nin 
up  Channel.  From  the  Lizard  to  Dungeness 
she  was  only    19   hours.      At   3.30   p.m.   on    17th 


THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS  339 

December  she  was  off  the  Lizard  and  at  1 1  p.m. 
next  day  she  picked  up  a  pilot  at  the  Ness. 

Altogether  Norman  Court  had  had  a  very  suc- 
cessful and  profitable  voyage,  and  so  pleased  were 
Baring  Bros,  with  their  vessel  that  they  com- 
missioned Button  to  execute  a  picture  of  her  at  a 
cost  of  ;^ioo.  He  chose  the  moment  at  which  she 
picked  up  her  pilot  off  the  Ness,  and  the  illustration 
given  here  is  from  a  litho  of  this  picture. 

Norman  Court's  typhoon  reminds  me  of  the  one 
which  caught  Titania  and  Lord  Mdcaulay  inside 
the  Paracels.  Captain  Care  of  the  Lord  Macaulay 
hove  to  with  a  specially  made  sail  lashed  to  the 
mizen  rigging,  and  she  lay  so  far  over  that  a  man 
could  have  walked  on  her  side. 

Titania  ran  it  out  like  Norman  Court,  and  with 
a  bow  wave  towering  above  her  rail  came  foaming 
by  the  Lord  Macaulay  like  a  whale-boat  in  tow  of  a 
a  whale  ;  indeed,  she  was  so  close  to  the  latter  that 
she  washed  her  fore  and  aft  with  the  white  bone  she 
had  in  her  teeth.  Both  ships  lost  their  royal  masts, 
and  when  the  two  captains  met  again  in  London, 
Captain  Care  hardly  knew  his  brother  skipper,  for 
the  latter's  hair  which,  when  he  left  China,  had  been 
coal  black,  was  snow  white. 

The  Race  Between  <*  Cutty  Sark"  and 
"  Thermopylae" 

A  great  duel  was  arranged  in  1872  between 
Cutty  Sark  and   Thermopylae.      Both  vessels   left 


340  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Shanghai  on  the  same  day  and  within  an  hour  or 
two  of  each  other.  They  were,  however,  some  time 
in  getting  clear  away  owing  to  fresh  gales  and  thick 
fogs  in  which  it  was  impossible  to  proceed,  and 
Cutty  Sark  did  not  drop  her  pilot  until  21st  June. 

They  were  then  held  up  by  calms  and  fogs  until 
2  a.m.  on  the  23rd,  when  the  N.E.  monsoon  began 
to  blow  strong  and  soon  freshened  to  a  gale,  which, 
split  the  Cutty  Sark's  fore  topgallant  sail  to  pieces. 

The  monsoon  held  until  the  26th  when  at  i  p.m., 
in  lat.  20°  27'  N.,  long.  114°  43'  E.,  the  two  racers 
were  in  sight  of  each  other.  Cutty  Sark  being^ 
in  the  lead. 

On  the  28th  June  they  were  again  together,  this 
time  with  Thermopylae  6  miles  to  windward  of  her 
opponent,  the  wind  being  fresh  from  the  S.W.  with 
heavy  squalls,  but  they  did  not  meet  again  until 
approaching  Gaspar  Straits.  The  weather  con- 
tinued boisterous  until  the  ist  July,  up  to  which 
date  Cutty  Sark  had  only  had  one  observation  since 
leaving  port. 

On  the  Cochin  China  Coast  the  usual  land  and 
sea  breezes  were  worked,  but  crossing  to  the 
Natunas  fresh  gales  and  squalls  and  split  sails  were: 
the  experience  of  both  clippers. 

On  15th  July  in  108°  18'  E.  on  the  equator,. 
Thermopylae  sighted  Cutty  Sark  about  8  miles 
ahead,  but  gradually  fell  astern,  and  on  the  following^ 
morning  Cutty  Sark  could  only  just  be  seen  front 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  341 

the  fore  topsail  yard  bearing  S.E.  At  lo  a.m.  on 
17th  July  Cutty  Sark  led  Thermopylae  through 
Stolzes  Channel,  but  on  the  i8th  some  unfriendly 
-waterspouts  compelled  the  former  to  bear  up  out  of 
her  course  and  take  in  sail  and  this  let  Thermopylae 
up.  At  6  a.m.  on  the  19th  both  ships  arrived  off 
Anjer,  Thermopylae  now  having  a  lead  of  \\  miles. 
Here  Cutty  Sark  was  hove  to  for  a  couple  of  hours 
whilst  Captain  Moodie  went  ashore  with  letters. 

At  noon  on  the  20th,  Thermopylae  was  3  miles 
W.  by  S.  of  Cutty  Sark,  both  vessels  being  hung 
up  by  calms  and  baffling  airs.  And  it  was  not  until 
the  26th,  with  Keeling  Cocos  Island  in  sight  to  the 
nor'rard,  that  there  was  any  strength  in  the  S.E. 
trade ;  from  this  point,  however,  the  wind  came 
fresh  from  the  E.S.E.  and  stunsail  booms  began  to 
crack  like  carrots. 

This  was  the  sort  of  weather  that  Cutty  Sark 
revelled  in,  and  she  went  flying  to  the  front  with 
three  consecutive  runs  of  340,  327  and  320  miles. 
She  carried  the  trades  until  7th  August,  when  at 
I  p.m.  the  wind  suddenly  took  off  as  if  cut  by  a 
knife,  and  remained  calm  and  baffling  until  the  9th 
when  it  commenced  to  breeze  up  rapidly  from 
the  S.W. 

The  nth  August  found  Cutty  Sark  battling 
with  a  strong  westerly  gale,  but  with  a  good 
lead  of  Thermopylae.  From  this  date,  however, 
the  weather  fought  for  the  latter,  and  the  following 


342  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

quotations  from  Captain  Moodie's  private  log  will 
show  the  bad  luck  which  attended  Cutty  Sark  in 
losing  her  rudder. 

August  13— Lat.  34°  3'  S.,  long.  28°  f  E.  Distance  83  miles.  Strong 
gale  from  N.E.  At  5  a.m.  the  wind  hauled  to  west.  Rest  of  day  blowing  a 
very  heavy  gale.     Fore  and  main  lower  topsails  went  to  pieces. 

August  14— Lat.  34°  6'  S.,  long.  28°  7'  E.  Heavy  gale  from  W.  with 
severe  squalls  and  tremendous  sea. 

August  15— Lat.  34°  26'  8.  long.  28°  1'  E.  At  6.30  a.m.  a  heavy  sea 
struck  the  rudder  and  carried  it  away  from  the  trunk  downwards.  Noon, 
wind  more  moderate,  tried  a  spar  over  the  stern  but  would  not  steer  the  ship. 
Thereupon  began  construction  of  a  jury  rudder  with  a  spare  spar  70  feet  long.* 

August  16 — 34°  13'  S.,  28°  24'  E.  Light  winds  from  south.  P.M.,  strong 
breeze  from  E.N.E.     Constructing  jury  rudder  and  sternpost  as  fast  as  possible. 

August  17—34°  43'  S.,  28'  25'  E.  Strong  winds  from  east  to  E.S.E. 
Constructing  jury  rudder  and  sternpost. 

August  18— 34°  58' S.,  28°  11' E.  Strong  winds  from  E.N.E.  Construct- 
ing jury  rudder  and  sternpost. 

August  19 — 34°  51' S.,  27°  58' E.  Strong  winds  from  N.E.  Constructing 
jury  rudder  and  sternpost. 

August  20 — 34°  38'  S.,  27°  36'  E.  Light  wind  from  westward.  Noon, 
strong  westerly  breeze  and  clear.      About  2  p.m.  shipped  jury  rudder  and 

*  Captain  Moodie's  description  of  his  jury  rudder. — "  The  making  of  the 
rudder  was,  however,  only  the  simple  part  of  it,  the  connecting  it  to  the  post 
and  securing  it  to  the  ship  so  that  it  would  work  and  be  of  sumcient  strength 
for  use  when  placed  was  the  most  difficult  part  of  the  job.  The  connection 
was  made  by  putting  eye-bolts  in  both  rudder  post  and  rudder,  and  placing 
them  so  that  the  one  would  just  clear  the  other ;  a  large  bolt  (an  awning 
stanchion)  was  then  passed  through  them  and  clenched  on  both  ends ;  in  this 
way  we  had  five  eye-bolts  in  each,  locked  with  two  strong  bolts  which  would 
bear  a  considerable  weight.  The  securing  of  the  whole  to  the  ship  was  of  the 
next  importance,  and  it  was  soon  apparent  that  this  could  not  be  done  in  the 
way  usually  recommended,  viz.,  by  placing  chains  along  the  ship's  bottom 
and  leading  into  the  hawse  pipes ;  in  the  first  place,  the  Cutty  Sark  is  too 
sharp  for  chain  to  Ue  along  the  keel,  and  in  the  next  place  the  length  of  the 
ship  is  too  great,  it  would  be  difficult  to  bind  the  post  tightly  to  the  vessel 
owing  to  the  great  length  of  chain.  I  therefore  concluded  to  take  both  the 
guys  into  the  after  mooring  pipe,  fitting  the  lower  one  with  a  bridle  under  the 
keel,  16  feet  from  the  heel  of  the  ship,  so  that  from  the  post  to  the  bridle  there 
was  a  little  down-pull  which  prevented  post  and  rudder  from  rising.  The 
next  thing  to  be  done  was  to  get  the  steering  gear  secure  to  the- rudder,  for  the 
trunk  was  too  small  to  admit  anything  but  the  false  sternpost,  which  came  about 
2j  feet  above  the  deck,  and  being  wedged  round  formed  a  good  support.  The 
steering  gear  had  therefore  to  be  secured  to  the  back  of  the  rudder  and  led  to- 
a  spar  placed  across  the  ship,  about  15  feet  before  the  taffrail,  which  led  the 
steering  chains  clear  of  the  counter,  and  then  inboard  10  the  wheel.  Of 
coarse,  all  the  gear  was  attached  to  both  rudder  and  post  before  they  were 
put  over  the  stern.  Having  a  small  model  01  the  ship  I  took  all  the  measure- 
ments for  the  chains  by  that,  which  enabled  me  to  place  them  pretty 
near  the  truth.' 


'CUTTY  SARK'S"  JURY   RUDDER. 


[To  face  Page  Sil. 


THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS  343 

sternpost,  a  difficult  job  as  there  was  a  good  deal  of  sea  on.  (It  will  be 
noticed  that  whilst  Cutty  Sari  lay  hove  to,  with  her  crew  working  night  and 
day  on  the  jury  rudder,  fine  fair  winds,  which  carried  Thermopylae  round  the 
Cape,  were  blowing,  but  no  sooner  was  the  rudder  ready  for  shipping  into 
place  than  the  wind  chopped  round  into  the  west  and  began  to  blow  up  for  a 
further  series  of  head  gales. ) 

August  21—34°  19'  S.,  26°  58'  E.    Distance  36  miles.    Strong  westerly  gale. 

August  23—35°  49'  S.,  20°  58'  E.  Distance  194  miles.  Stiff  breeze  from 
south  to  E.N.E.  and  sharp  head  sea.  Midnight,  wind  hauled  to  N.W. 
Rounded  Cape  Agulhas.  (On  this  day  Thermopylae  was  in  31"  43'  S.,  13*  E., 
490  miles  ahead.) 

Cntty  Sark  next  had  a  succession  of  heavy  head 
gales,  which  did  not  let  up  until  the  31st,  and  sorely 
tested  the  capabilities  of  the  jury  rudder.  The 
awning  stanchions  which  connected  the  steering 
chains  to  the  back  of  the  rudder  were  carried  away, 
and  several  of  the  eye-bolts  which  held  the  rudder 
to  the  post  were  broken,  but  they  managed  to  steet 
with  two  wire  rope  pennants  shackled  to  an  eye- 
bolt  placed  in  the  back  of  the  rudder  in  case  of 
accident  to  the  chains. 

The  jury  rudder,  however,  carried  Cutty  Sark  to 
7°  28'  N.,  20'  j^'j'  W.,  without  further  accident. 
The  ship  was  found  to  steer  very  well  with  the  wind 
right  aft,  but  with  strong  beam  winds  and  when 
going  anything  over  10  knots  the  rudder  was  not 
nearly  so  efificient,  and  it  was  often  necessary  to 
reduce  sail  to  keep  the  ship  down  to  about  8  knots. 

On  ist  September  in  30°  44'  S.,  12°  24'  E.,  the 
succession  of  fierce  northerly  gales  at  last  grew  tired 
of  buffeting  the  lame  duck  and  the  normal  weather 
for  running  down  to  St.  Helena  set  in.  The  island 
was  passed  at  9  am.  on  9th  September,  and  on  the 


344  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

15th  Cutty  Sark  crossed  the  line.  Her  best  runs 
between  ist  September  and  this  date  were  210,  211, 
214,  226,  227,  221  and  207,  pretty  good  work  for  a 
ship  which  was  not  allowed  to  do  more  than  8  knots. 

All  this  time,  however,  the  jury  rudder  was 
gradually  breaking  its  fastenings  and  on  20th 
September  the  last  of  the  eye-bolts  holding  the 
rudder  to  the  post  gave  way  and  the  whole  con- 
trivance had  to  be  hoisted  up  for  repairs.  Captain 
Moodie  was  now  so  short  of  material  that  he  had  to 
shape  flat  pieces  of  iron  so  that  they  would  work  on 
the  iron  stanchions  instead  of  the  eye-bolts.  The 
repairs  were  smartly  done  and  on  the  following  day 
the  jury  rudder  was  once  more  ready  for  lowering. 

On  the  first  occasion  a  kedge  anchor  of  5|-  cwt. 
had  been  used  to  sink  it  into  place,  but  owing  to  the 
bad  sea  running  this  had  been  lost.  On  21st 
September  Captain  Moodie  determined  to  fix  the 
post  and  rudder  in  place  without  using  any  weight 
to  sink  it.  When  all  was  ready  the  sails  were  filled 
and  the  ship  given  a  little  headway,  the  rudder  and 
post  were  then  lowered  and  streamed  right  astern, 
the  rudder  was  then  hauled  close  to  the  trunk  and 
the  sails  laid  abaclc.  As  the  ship  lost  headway  the 
weight  of  the  chains  partially  sank  the  rudder,  then 
as  the  ship  slowly  gathered  sternway  and  the  slack 
of  the  guys  was  hauled  in,  the  heel  of  the  rudder 
.  sank  and  allowed  the  head  to  be  easily  hauled  up 
through  the  trunk.     This  operation  is  very  easy  to 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  345 

write  about,  but  in  its  proper  execution  it  required 
such  seamanship  as  is  hardly  known  nowadays. 

Cutty  Sark  had  fine  strong  N.E,  trades  to  within 
a  day  of  the  Western  Isles,  but,  unfortunately,  had 
to  be  kept  down  to  a  speed  of  200  miles  a  day,  as 
beyond  that  her  jury  rudder  could  not  control  her. 

On  the  last  lap  of  the  passage  she  unfortunately 
met  with  strong  winds  and  gales  from  the  nor'rard 
and  eastward,  and  on  12th  October,  the  day  that 
Thermopylae  arrived  in  the  Downs,  she  was 
battling' against  a  fresh  N.N.E.  gale  in  45"  if  N., 
13°  26'  W.  This  gale  lasted  until  Cutty  Sark  also 
reached  the  Downs  on  i8th  October,  less  than  a 
week  behind  her  rival,  for  which  fine  performance 
Captain  Moodie  received  great  praise  in  shipping 
circles.  Indeed,  though  Thermopylae  arrived  first, 
all  the  honours  of  the  race  belonged  to  Cutty  Sark 
for  she  was  hove  to  for  more  than  6  days  whilst  the 
jury  rudder  was  being  made.  And  between  the 
day  on  which  she  lost  her  rudder  and  that  of  her 
arrival,  she  wasted  11  days  making  139  miles, 
added  to  which,  when  she  had  a  chance  to  go 
ahead,  her  speed  had  to  be  reduced  to  8  knots  or 
half  what  she  was  capable  of  doing.  It  therefore 
seemed  pretty  certain  that,  but  for  her  accident. 
Cutty  Sark  must  have  beaten  Thermopylae  by 
several  days.  This  race  between  Cutty  Sark  and 
Thermopylae  was  the  beginning  of  a  life-long 
rivalry  in  which  it  is  difficult  to  say  which  came  out 


346  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

on  top,  as  whilst  during  the  seventies  Thermopylae 
made  the  best  passages,  during  the  eighties  Cutty 
Sark  made  the  fastest  voyages  of  the  two. 

Unfortunately  for  Willis's  clipper,  Captain  Moodie 
left  her  on  her  arrival  in  1872,  from  which  date  until 
1885  her  skippers  did  not  bear  the  reputation  of 
being  "sail  carriers."  In  1885,  however,  she  was 
taken  over  by  an  old  sea  dog  of  the  Bully  Forbes' 
type,  and  immediately  she  began  to  make  wonderful 
records  in  the  Australian  trade.  Captain  Moodie  was 
succeeded  by  Captain  Moore,  late  of  the  White  Adder, 
a  well-known  London  man,  who  had  been  mate  of  the 
Lammermuir  in  her  famous  race  with  Cairngorm. 

In  November,  1872,  Cutty  Sark  for  the  first  time 
was  laid  on  the  berth  to  load  for  the  Colonies ;  in 
fact,  she  loaded  for  Melbourne  almost  alongside  her 
rival  Thermopylae,  Unfortunately,  she  was  not 
quite  ready  in  time  to  get  away  with  Thermopylae, 
nevertheless  the  two  ships  made  a  very  close  race 
of  it,  their  times  being — 

Thermopylae  left  London  November  14;  dropped  pilot  off  Dartmouth 
November  17  ;  arrived  Melbourne  January  27,  1873 — 7'  •l^ys  fro™  pilot. 

Cutty  Sark  left  London  November  25  ;  dropped  pilut  off  Daitmouth 
November  28 ;  arrived  Melbourne  February  11,  1S73 — 75  days  irom  pilot. 

Tea  Trade  of  1873. 

The  year  1872  may  be  said  to  have  been 
the  last  year  in  which  there  was  any  real  racing 
amongst  the  clippers.  Henceforward,  though  the 
captains  still  did  their  best  to  make  fast  passages, 
they  no  longer  had  any  chance  of  bringing  the  first 


THE    CHINA   CUPPERS  347 

teas  to  market,  which  were  all  taken  by  the  racing 
steamers  through  the  Suez  Canal,  there  was  there- 
fore no  need  for  daring  feats  of  navigation  or  sail 
carrying,  added  to  which,  as  freights  fell  before  the 
onslaught  of  the  steamers,  the  clippers  grew  more 
and  more  scattered  and  only  two  or  three  of  the 
most  celebrated  of  them,  such  as  Thermopylae  and 
Cutty  Sark,  continued  to  load  home  in  June  and  July. 
Many  of  the  others  preferred  to  load  later  in  the 
year  in  November  and  December,  when  they  had 
the  fair  monsoon  and  reduced  insurance  rates. 
Others  deserted  the  English  market  for  that  of 
America.  Of  these  the  most  regular  traders  to 
America  were  Wylo,  Kaisow  and  Lothair,  all  of 
whom  made  passages  from  China  to  New  York  in 
under  ick)  days.  In  1873  Leander,  Wylo,  Erne, 
Black  Prince,  White  Adder,  Chinaman  and  Falcon 
all  went  to  New  York.  In  the  United  States  the 
evil  practice  of  running  the  crews  out  of  arriving 
ships  flourished,  and  I  am  told  that  carrying 
tea  to  New  York  was  worth  ;^ioo  to  an  un- 
scrupulous captain,  who  would  stoop  to  such 
methods.  Naturally  decent  captains  strongly  ob- 
jected to  this  slim  Yankee  device  and  were  not 
willing  either  to  run  out  their  crews  or  pay  them  off 
in  order  to  put  the  money  straight  into  the  maws  of 
that  worst  of  all  land  sharks,  the  New  York  water- 
side wolf,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  one-third  of 
the  spoils  were  offered  as  blood  money. 


34S  THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Every  obstacle  was,  of  course,  put  in  the  path  of 
these  straight-going  skippers,.  A  case  in  point  was 
that  of  Captain  Brown  of  Wylo,  a  "  white  man  " 
and  a  gentleman,  beloved  by  his  crews.  On  his 
stubbornly  refusing  to  pay  off  his  men,  the  result  of 
his  honesty  was  soon  apparent.  When  his  ship  was 
loaded  and  ready  to  sail  he  found  that  he  could  not 
get  his  clearance.  In  vain  he  appealed  to  the 
British  Consul,  that  representative  of  the  British 
Empire  was  helpless,  and  after  being  detained  for 
lo  days,  Captain  Brown  was  at  last  obliged  to 
leave  unsatisfied. 

On  his  arrival  in  London  he  wrote  an  indignant 
letter  to  the  Skipping  Gazette,  stating  in  bitter 
language  that  the  British  flag  was  of  no  use  to 
Britishers  in  New  York.  The  same  sort  of 
experience  happened  to  Captain  Shewan,  senior, 
and  others. 

Besides  America,  Australia  was  becoming  a 
growing  consumer  of  tea,  and  through  the  seventies 
some  fine  little  clipper  barques  worthily  upheld 
the  racing  traditions  of  the  trade  by  their  smart 
passages  from  the  tea  ports  to  Melbourne  and 
Sydney.  Perhaps  the  best  known  of  these  clipper 
barques  were  the  William  Manson,  built  by  Duthie 
of  Aberdeen  in  1872  for  Frazer  of  Sydney,  arid  the 
Mary  Blair  built  by  Duthie  in  1870  for  Hobart 
owners.  The  William  Manson  only  registered  366 
tons    and    the   Mary   Blair   311    tons,    but    these 


349 


THE   CHINA   CUPPERS 

vessels  crossed  two  skysail  yards  and  were  sailed 
for  all  they  were  worth.  One  of  their  skippers  Wcis 
an  especially  well-known  character,  he  was  a  little 
man  of  the  type  of  Captain  Kettle.  On  one 
occasion  he  hung  on  to  his  skysails  so  long  that 
his  men  refused  to  go  aloft  and  furl  them,  fearing 
that  the  masts  might  go  any  moment.  Thereupon 
he  went  up  himself  and  put  the  gaskets  on  the  sails, 
and  on  his  return  to  the  deck  administered  a  severe 
thrashing  to  the  men  who  had  refused  to  tackle  the 
job,  as  a  pointer  to  the  statement  "  that  he  gave  no 
man  a  task  which  he  feared  to  do  himself." 

This  year  the  famous  Taeping  came  to  an  end  of 
her  career,  being  wrecked  on  the  dreaded  Paracels; 

The  following  were  the  chief  passages  made 
in  1873:— 


Ship. 

Captain, 

Port  Left. 

Left. 

Passed 
Anjer. 

Arrived. 

Days 
Out. 

Sir  Lancelot    .     . 

Edmonds 

Shanghai 

June  29 

Nov.    3 

127 

Maitland  .     .     . 

Reid 

Foochow 

July     6 

— 

»        3 

120 

Cutty  Sark     .     . 

Moore 

Shanghai 

„      9 

Aug.  20 

..       3 

"7 

Thermopylae  .     . 

Kemball 

ft 

..     " 

..       8 

Oct.  20 

lOI 

Undine.     .     .     . 

Vowell 

Foochow 

»     16 

— 

Nov.  26 

133 

Forward  Ho    .     . 

Wade 

)» 

..    23 

— 

Dec.    I 

131 

Tiiania      .     .     . 

Hunt 

Shanghai 

Aug.    2 

Sept.  17 

,.     18 

138 

Norman  Court 

Shewan 

Foochow 

>.       4 

»      5 

Nov.  28 

116 

Kaisow       ,     .     . 

Anderson 

Shanghai 

..       9 

Dec.    2 

"S 

Httlhw^en .     .     . 

Watt 

>f 

Nov.  ig 

Dec.    6 

Feb.  16 

89 

Lothair      .     .     . 

Orchard 

Whampoa 

Dec.  11 

..     16 

Mar.  19 

98 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Cu^/^y  Sark  and  Thermopylae 
again  managed  to  load  together,  but  in  the  race 
down  the  China  Sea  Captain  Kemball  made  the 
good  time  of  28  days  to  Anjer,  whereas  Captain 
Moore  made  the  very  bad  one  of  42  days. 


350  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

It  is  on  this  part  of  the  passage  that  the  element 
of  luck  comes  in,  besides  which  the  time  to  Anjer 
depended  more  on  the  captain  than  the  clipper  her- 
self From  Anjer  home  both  ships  made  very  fair 
passages,  Thermopylae  just  having  the  best  of  it 
by  two  days. 

Sir  Lancelot,  without  her  racing  ballast,  was  not 
driven  as  in  Robinson's  day,  and  so  her  time  was 
poor.  But  Titania  was  the  unlucky  ship  of  the 
year,  being  no  less  than  46  days  to  Anjer  and  50 
days  between  St.  Helena  arid  the  Downs.  The 
abstract  log  of  Halloween's  magnificent  passage 
will  be  found  in  the  appendix.  She  had  come 
across  from  Sydney  to  Shanghai  in  31  days,  which 
was  almost  as  good  as  Thermopylae's  record  of  28 
days  from  Newcastle,  N.S.W. 

Leaving  Sydney  on  9th  August,  Halloween 
crossed  the  line  on  the  21st,  only  12  days  out; 
on  6th  September  she  made  a  run  of  312  miles  with 
the  wind  fresh  at  east  and  all  sails  set,  and  at 
noon  on  the  9th  September  she  took  her  pilot  off 
Leaconna.  In  this  passage  she  showed  extra- 
ordinary all  round  speed  in  light  winds.  In  the 
passage  home,  she  was  lucky  in  her  winds  and 
had  very  few  days  with  the  yards  on  the  backstays, 
but,  nevertheless,  her  performance  was  no  fluke,  as 
she  repeated  it  within  a  day  or  two  in  her  next 
two  voyages. 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  351 

Best  Passages,  1874m1878:  Shan^ai,  Fooehow, 
and  Whampoa  to  Iiondon. 

1874. 

In  S.W.  monsoon— Tiertncfyilae  loi  days,  Norman  Court  m,  Culty  Sark  iiZ. 
In  N.E.  monsoon — Hallowe'en  91  days.  Undine  113. 

1875. 
In  S.W.  monsoon— TAerfnofy/lae  115  days,  Cittly  Sari  125,  Sir  Lancelot  125. 
In  N.E.  monsoon — Halloween  92  days,  Titania  100,  Jerusalem  loi. 

1876. 
In  S.W.  monsoon — Cutty  Sari  109  days,  Thermopylae  119. 
In  N.E.  monsoon — Hallowe'en  102  days,  Norman  Court  106. 

1877. 
In  S.W.  monsoon — Thermopylae  104  days,  Windhover  121,  Cutty  Sark  127. 
In  N.E.  maas.oovi— Jerusalem  106  days,  Wylo  iii. 

1878. 
In  N.E.  monsoon — Titania  102  days,  Thermopylae  no,  Taitsing  117. 

In  1878  tea  freights  had  dropped  to  such  an 
extent  and  the  eastern  trade  was  so  bad  that  even 
Tketmopylae  had  great  difficulty  in  filling  her  hold 
at  30/-  per  50  cubic  feet.  Indeed,  Thermopylae, 
Cutty  Sark,  Hallowe'en,  and  other  noted  ships  were 
all  reduced  to  making  trips  backwards  and  forwards 
between  China  and  Australia,  so  difficult  was  it  to 
get  a  cargo  home. 

In  1 88 1  Thermopylae  made  her  last  passage  in 
the  tea  trade — leaving  Fooehow  on  30th  October 
she  arrived  in  the  Downs  107  days  out.  The  same 
year  Hallowe'en  made  a  passage  of  103  days  from 
Shanghai,  And  these  are  the  last  records  worth 
noting,  for  by  this  date  all  the  tea  ships  which  were 
still  afloat  had  had  their  wings  clipped  and  crews 
reduced,  with  economy  as  their  guiding  star  and 
not  speed. 

But   it   is   always   interesting   to   follow   a   well- 


352  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

known  ship  to  the  end  of  her  days,  so  I  shall  now 
attempt  to  trace  the  after  life  of  these  beautiful  tea 
clippers  before  bringing  my  pen  to  a  halt. 

The  Af terHLife  of  the  Tea  Clippers. 

The  Falcon  deserted  the  tea  trade  long 
before  the  eclipse,  and  spent  some  years  sweltering 
on  the  West  Coast  of  South  America  under  charter 
to  the  Chilean  Government ;  and  when  she  came 
home  to  be  reclassed  in  1873,  it  was  found  that  her 
stay  on  that  coast  had  done  her  no  good.  Her 
keelson  proved  to  be  as  soft  as  a  cabbage,  and  the 
dry  rot  had  to  be  literally  dug  out  of  her  hold.  It 
was  soon  seen  that  the  day  of  the  famous  old  flyer 
was  over,  and  with  clipped  wings  and  no  yards  on 
her  mizen  she  slowly  sank  into  obscurity. 

In  1887,  however,  she  was  still  afloat,  owned  by 
the  Austrians  and  disguised  under  the  name  of 
Sophia  Brailli. 

The  great  Fiery  Cross  was  sold  to  the  Norwegians 
about  the  end  of  the  seventies  and  was  still  afloat 
until  comparatively  recent  years. 

Flying  Spur,  after  having  her  spars  reduced, 
drifted  ashore  on  the  Martin  Vaz  Rocks  in  the  early 
eighties.  Forward  Ho  was  wrecked  in  1881,  whilst 
Chinaman  was  run  down  and  sunk  by  a  steamer  in 
the  Yangtze  River,  in  1880.  Serica  was  lost  in  the 
China  Sea  about  the  same  date,  and  Taitsing  was 
wrecked  on  the  Zanzibar  Coast  in  1883. 

Min  was  sold  to  the  Hawaiians,  and  sailed  in  the 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  353 

island  trade  for  many  years  under  the  name  of  W.  B. 
Godfrey.  Black  Prince  was  lost  in  the  Java  Sea 
soon  after  Baring  Bros,  sold  her. 

Sir  Lancelot  survived  her  sister  ship  Ariel  by 
many  years.  Her  spars  were  cut  down  in  1874, 
8  feet  being  taken  off  her  lower  masts.  Neverthe- 
less she  made  her  next  voyage  out  to  China,  back  to 
New  York  and  home  in  nine  months  and  two  days. 
But  in  January,  1877,  she  had  the  further  indignity 
put  upon  her  of  having  the  spars  stripped  off  her 
mizen  mast.  Yet  even  this  could  not  stop  her,  and 
on  28th  December,  1877,  she  left  Shanghai  under 
Captain  Andrew  Hepburn,  passed  Anjer  on  15th 
January,  1878,  and  arrived  at  New  York  on  2nd 
April,  only  95  days  out. 

On  her  next  voyage  she  went  out  to  Japan,  com- 
manded by  Captain  Brockenshaw,  and  it  was  on  the 
passage  out  to  Yokohama  that  she  picked  up  the 
survivors  of  the  Victorian  Expedition  to  New 
Guinea. 

In  1879,  under  the  same  commander,  she  loaded 
to  New  Zealand,  then  crossed  to  China  and  loaded 
home  from  Foochow,  arriving  in  the  Thames  on 
27th  February,  1880,  128  days  out.  This  was  her 
last  tea  passage. 

In   1881-2   Captain  Shortlands  took  her  out  to 

Honolulu,  then  across  to  Astoria,  and  home  round 

the  Horn. 

The  next  few  years,  from  1882  to  1885,  Captain 
z 


354  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Murdoch  Macdonald  had  her  and  kept  her  on 
charter  in  the  Indian  coasting  trade.  Finally,  in 
1886,  Messrs.  MacCunn  sold  her  to  Visram  Ibrahim 
of  Bombay. 

Henceforward  she  carried  a  coloured  crew  and 
became  a  "country  trader,"  running  chiefly  between 
Bombay,  Calcutta,  and  Mauritius.  She  was,  how- 
ever, lucky  in  being  commanded  by  Captain  Brebner, 
whose  handbook  for  the  Indian  Ocean  is  well  known 
to  seamen  trading  to  the  East.  He  kept  her  in  such 
beautiful  condition  that  she  was  known  for  years  as 
the  "  Yacht  of  the  Indian  Ocean,"  and  during  the 
last  phase  of  her  career  she  received  as  much 
admiration  as  she  had  ever  had  in  her  glorious 
past.  Amongst  her  greatest  admirers  were  the 
Admiral  in  command  of  the  East  Indian  Squadron 
(who  could  never  pass  her  without  praising  her 
beauty  and  gracefulness),  Lord  Harris,  the  Gover- 
nor of  Bombay,  and  the  Governor  of  Mauritius, 
each  of  whom  paid  her  the  honour  of  a  visit  of 
ceremony  with  full  staff. 

Her  passages  under  Captain  Brebner  were 
always  very  good,  and  as  late  as  the  nineties  she 
weathered  out  no  less  than  four  fierce  cyclones 
without  sustaining  any  material  damage,  which 
speaks  volumes  both  for  Captain  Brebner's  seaman- 
ship and  the  old  clipper's  seaworthiness. 

The  first  of  these  cyclones  began  on  6th  June, 
1892,  in  7°  N.,  92°  E.,  the  wind  going  round  to  the 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  355 

south  from  the  S.W.  in  terrific  squalls  until  the  8th, 
when  Sir  Lancelot  found  herself  in  ii'  N.,  89°  E. 

The  second  cyclone  was  encountered  on  the  26th 
of  the  same  month  and  year.  It  overtook  Sir 
■  Lancelot  in  8°  S.,  85°  E.,  and  held  her  in  its  clutches 
until  the  30th,  during  which  time  the  wind  shifted 
from  south  through  to  east  with  the  usual  violent 
squalls  and  mountainous  sea. 

The  following  is  Captain   Brebner's   account   of 
Sir  Lancelot's  third  cyclone  : — 

"I  sailed  from  Bombay  on  the  21st  October, 
1893,  and  experienced  fine  weather  down  the 
Malabar  Coast.  On  entering  the  N.W.  monsoon 
regions  it  became  squally  with  incessant  showers  of 
rain  for  days,  and,  on  the  morning  of  the  ist 
November,  Sir  Lancelot  ran  into  a  cyclone  right- 
hand  semicircle  in  lat,  9°  10'  S.,  long.  72°  20'  E. 
The  wind  was  steady  at  N.W.  during  the  night 
with  hard  squalls  and  very  heavy  rain.  At  mid- 
night, I   reduced  sail  to  topsails  and  foresail.     At 

5  a.m.  the  wind  shifted  from  N.W.  to  N.,  and  at 

6  o'clock  it  was  N.E.  with  mountainous  seas.  I 
immediately  lay  to  under  the  lower  topsails.      At 

7  the  wind  rapidly  veered  to  east,  S.E.,  south  and 
S.W.  where  it  remained  steady,  and  blew  a 
hurricane  of  much  violence.  Sails  were  blown  from 
the  yards,  the  leeside  was  under  water  up  to  the 
hatches,  the  bulwarks  were  washed  away  nearly  the 
whole  length  of  the   ship,  the  wheel  broken   into 


356  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

matchwood,  skylight  stove  in  and  cabin  flooded. 
The  squalls  were  terrific.  At  lo  p.m.  it  showed 
signs  of  abating.  By  midnight  the  storm  had 
passed  and  the  wind  shifted  to  N.W,,  when  storm 
sails  were  set  to  keep  the  vessel  head  on  to  the  sea."  , 

Captain  Brebner's  account  of  Sir  Lancelot's 
fburth  cyclone  is  equally  interesting  : — 

"Sir  Lancelot  left  Calcutta  on  20th  December, 
1894,  for  Mauritius,  On  the  12th  January,  1895, 
whilst  running  with  fresh  S.E.  trade  and  approach- 
ing Rodriguez  to  sight  it,  the  sun  and  moon 
were  surrounded  by  halos,  and  this  phenomenon 
continued  till  the  night  of  the  13th,  the  position 
then  being  50  miles  north  of  Rodriguez.  It  grew 
squally  with  heavy  rain  after  midnight.  On  the 
morning  of  the  14th  Mauritius  was  W.  by  S.,  180 
miles,  the  weather  then  became  very  thick.  I  knew 
that  a  cyclone  lay  in  the  locality.  Running  to 
anchor  at  the  Bell  Buoy,  a  dangerous  anchorage 
which  necessitated  putting  to  sea  should  the  cyclone 
strike  the  island,  was  not  considered  advisable.  I 
therefore  decided  to  lay  to,  set  my  cyclone  compass 
and  watch  the  wind  and  barometer.  It  continued 
to  rain  throughout  the  day  and  night,  the  wind 
being  steady  from  S.E.,  moderate  in  force,  and 
barometer  steady.  On  the  morning  of  the  15th 
conditions  were  the  same.  At  1 1  o'clock  the  sun 
shone  out  brightly  and  continued  so  for  half-an- 
hour,      I   then  anticipated  some  improvement  but 


THE  CHINA    CLIPPERS  357 

would  not  act  until  the  barometer  indicated  a 
change  for  good  or  bad.  At  noon  things  were 
anything  but  promising. 

"  It  now  became  evident  that  I  was  in  front  of  an 
advancing  revolving  storm.  The  barometer  began 
to  fall  rapidly,  mountainous  seas  rolling  up  from 
about  N.E.  with  increasing  S.E.  wind.  I  then  set 
the  various  parts  of  my  cyclone  compass  and  saw 
that  I  was  on  the  south-west  margin  of  the  storm 
and  also  in  the  dangerous  quadrant 

"  I  considered  it  was  now  time  to  act  quickly  and 
seriously.  Having  a  fast  ship,  I  decided  to  take 
my  chance  and  run  across  the  front  of  the  advanc- 
ing storm  into  the  navigating  quadrant.  The  two 
lower  topsails  were  then  set  and  the  ship  headed 
N.W.,  Sir  Lancelot  making  9  knots  by  patent  log 
and  perhaps  1 1  over  the  ground.  Before  the  helm 
was  put  up  two  oil  bags  were  placed  over  each  bow 
and  the  same  over  each  quarter  and  she  ran 
comfortably,  although  the  sea  was  dreadful  to 
behold.  At  4  p.m.  the  wind  showed  signs  of 
shifting  and  the  barometer  was  still  going  down. 
At  sunset,  it  veered  from  S.E.  to  a  little  west  of 
south.  Sir  Lancelot  was  shipping  much  water  amid- 
ships, but  no  damage  was  done,  the  oil  bags  working 
faithfully  and  being  replenished  when  necessary.  I 
took  in  the  fore  lower  topsail  before  it  became  dark 
and  made  up  my  mind  to  sacrifice  the  main  one. 

"At  8  o'clock  the  wind  was  S.S.W.,  at  10  o'clock 


358  THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS 

S.W.,  the  main  topsail  then  blew  to  ribbons.  Sir 
Lancelot  ran  under  bare  poles  until  midnight, 
when  the  wind  veered  to  west.  At  2  a.m.  on  the 
1 6th  it  was  W.N.W.,  when  the  barometer  stopped 
falling,  being  at  29.3°. 

"  Between  2  and  5  a.m.  it  blew  a  terrific  gale,  and 
Sir  Lancelot  took  large  quantities  of  water  over  the 
stern  as  she  was  then  on  the  wrong  tack  for  bowing 
the  sea.  To  avoid  sustaining  any  damage  and  to 
assist  the  four  oil  bags,  I  placed  another  larger  oil 
bag  in  a  rattan  ballast  basket,  attached  the  deep  sea 
lead-line  to  it  and  ran  it  out  the  full  length.  The 
basket,  which  streamed  away  to  windward,  served 
the  purpose,  as  the  sea  broke  lightly  afterwards. 

"  At  6  o'clock  the  wind  veered  to  N.W.,  the  baro- 
meter rose,  wind  and  sea  went  down,  and  the  weather 
became  finer.  The  Sir  Lancelot  escaped  with  a  good 
shaking  up  and  the  loss  of  the  main  topsail  only." 

The  game  little  clipper,  after  having  thus  defied 
four  cyclones,  was  destined  to  be  conquered  by  her 
fifth.  Under  Captain  Brebner  she  would  no  doubt 
have  again  vanquished  the  elements,  but,  unfortun- 
ately, this  time  she  was  not  in  such  capable  hands. 

In  April,  1895,  she  was  sold  to  Persian  owners, 
and  left  Muscat  in  September  of  the  same  year, 
commanded  by  an  Arab  and  deep  loaded  with  salt 
for  Calcutta.  As  she  never  arrived  at  her  destina- 
tion, her  fate  would  have  no  doubt  remained  a 
mystery  but  for  the  following  letter: — 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  359 

I  was  the  branch  pilot  in  command  of  the  brig  Fame  at  the  Sandheads, 
mouth  of  the  Hooghly,  on  the  1st  October,  1895,  when  we  had  a  very  heavy 
cyclone.  The  Sir  Lancelot  came  up  under  my  lee  and  asked  for  a  pilot 
(squalls  were  coming  up  heavier  and  faster),  but  there  was  too  much  sea  to 
send  my  boat,  so  I  told  the  captain  to  get  to  the  southward  as  soon  as  he  could. 
She  looked  to  be  very  deep,  with  salt  from  the  Red  Sea  and  was  making  bad 
weather  of  it.  That  afternoon  I  was  on  my  beam  ends,  topgallant  masts  sent 
down,  and  there  I  lay  for  five  hours,  double  gaskets  on  all  sails  and  preventer 
braces.  I  think  the  use  of  oil  bags  saved  my  vessel.  About  loth  October 
four  lascars  were  picked  up  dead  in  the  Bay,  supposed  to  be  from  the  Sir 
Lancelot,  but  she  certainly  foundered  not  many  miles  from  me.  I  was  her 
pilot  and  sailed  her  up  the  Hooghly  to  Calcutta  some  ten  years  prior  to  this, 
so  was  interested  in  her.  W.  F.  Wawn. 

So  passed  one  of  the  most  famous  and  beautiful 
of  all  the  tea  clippers. 

If  Sir  Lancelot  had  to  contend  with  cyclones  in 
her  old  age,  Titania  had  the  severe  test  of  Cape 
Horn,  and  the  way  in  which  these  beautiful  creations 
survived  the  ordeal  of  storm  and  tempest  when 
over  20  years  old  says  much  for  the  perfection  of 
their  build. 

Titania  was  bought  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company 
in  the  early  eighties,  and  under  Captain  Dandy 
Dunn  voyaged  year  after  year  round  the  Horn  to 
Vancouver  and  back.  Her  big  sail  area  was,  of 
course,  cut  down,  yet,  even  so,  with  her  fine  ends 
she  must  have  been  a  ticklish  vessel  to  handle 
amongst  the  Cape  Horn  greybeards.  However,  in 
spite  of  ten  years'  trading  round  the  dreaded  Cape 
Stiff,  she  survived  Sir  Lancelot  and  all  her  con- 
temporaries except  Cutty  Sark,  Thermopylae,  and 
Lothair  by  many  years. 

In  the  early  nineties  she  was  bought  by  a  Mrs. 
Maresca  of  Castelamare,  and  henceforth  became  a 


360  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

familiar  object  in  the  ports  of  Marseilles  and  South 
America. 

Her  debut  under  the  Italian  flag  was  rather 
unfortunate.  She  was  sold  in  Australia,  and  on 
her  way  home  collided  with  the  s.s.  Courowarra  off 
Green  Cape  on  15th  April,  1894,  her  second  officer 
being  found  to  blame.  After  which  for  the  next  1 5 
years  she  was  to  be  seen  in  Naples,  Marseilles,  or 
Rio,  looking  as  spick  and  span  as  ever,  the  only 
change  visible  to  those  who  had  known  her  in  her 
prime  being  the  reduced  spars.  She  was  finally 
broken  up  at  Marseilles  in  March,    19 10. 

Of  other  notable  ships  in  the  tea  fleet,  Leander 
was  still  under  the  British  flag  in  the  nineties,  being 
owned  by  R.  Anderson  of  London.  She  also  traded 
out  East,  and  after  being  damaged  by  two  cyclones, 
in  March  and  April  of  1892,  she  was  sold  to  Muscat 
Arabs,  and  was  lost  about  the  same  time  and  in  the 
same  way  as  Sir  Lancelot,  foundering  with  her 
Arab  crew  in  a  cyclone  when  bound  from  Muscat 
to  Calcutta  with  salt. 

Undine  had  a  terrible  experience  in  1882.  She 
was  swept  bare  by  an  abnormal  wave,  which  took 
the  second  mate  and  his  whole  watch  overboard— 
Captain  Bristow,  who  had  been  in  her  from  his 
apprenticeship,  being  found  dead  under  her  spare 
spars  on  the  following  morning. 

Shortly  after  this  tragedy  Undine  was  bought  by 
M.    Ivetta    of   Ragusa,    and    so    disappeared   into 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  361 

oblivion.  Windhover  remained  under  the  British 
flag  to  the  end,  trading  mostly  to  Australia.  On 
15th  October,  1887,  she  arrived  in  San  Francisco  44 
days  from  Newcastle,  N.S.W.,  a  passage  which  was 
within  4  days  of  the  record,  and  this  in  spite  of 
reduced  canvas  and  no  yards  on  her  mizen  mast. 

Shortly  after  this  performance,  however,  she  was 
wrecked  on  the  Australian  Coast. 

Kaisow  also  remained  under  the  British  flag  to 
the  end.  On  the  14th  November,  1890,  she  left 
Valparaiso  barque-rigged  and  loaded  with  mangan- 
ese ore  for  the  United  Kingdom.  At  2  a.m.  on  the 
15th  she  was  running  under  topsails  and  foresail, 
when  she  was  struck  by  a  heavy  sea  which  hove  her 
on  her  beam  ends  and  caused  her  cargo  to  shift. 
She  was  then  60  miles  W.S.W.  of  Valparaiso.  She 
only  just  gave  her  crew  time  to  get  clear  in  one  of 
her  lifeboats  before  she  filled  and  sank,  the  lifeboat 
safely  making  the  land  on  the  following  day  a  few 
miles  south  of  the  River  Lamari. 

Norman  Court  continued  in  the  tea  trade  until 
1880,  though  reduced  and  converted  into  a  barque 
in  1878. 

At  the  end  of  1873,  after  a  passage  of  116  days 
from  Foochow,  Captain  Andrew  Shewan  gave  up 
the  command  of  Norman  Court  owing  to  ill-health, 
and  his  son  took  over  the  Baring  clipper.  On  the 
passage  out  to  Australia  in  1874,  young  Shewan 
was  able  to  try  his  ship  against  that  flyer  in  light 


362  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

airs,  Kaisow.  The  two  vessels  met  off  Beachy 
Head  on  the  6th  January,  and  were  constantly  in 
company  right  down  to  the  roaring  forties,  when 
they  were  parted  by  thick  weather  in  40°  S.,  2°  W., 
and  did  not  meet  again. 

On  his  first  passage  home  in  command,  fate  gave 
young  Shewan  a  still  greater  antagonist,  namely  Sir 
Lancelot.  The  latter  sailed  from  Shanghai  on  i8th 
July,  and  Norman  Court  from  Foochow  on  27th 
July.  On  29th  July  the  two  ships  met  in  the 
Formosa  Channel,  and  were  in  company  until  7th 
August,  when  they  were  parted  by  the  tail  end  of  a 
typhoon.  On  25th  August  they  again  met  off  the 
Borneo  Coast  and  again  lost  sight  of  each  other. 

Norman  Court  passed  Anjer  at  8  p.m.  on  the 
30th,  and  Sir  Lancelot  early  on  the  31st.  It  had 
been  the  usual  wearisome  work  of  squalls  and  calms 
in  the  China  Sea,  but  both  vessels  made  up  for  lost 
time  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  Norman  Court's  run 
across  the  trades  being  especially  good,  the  follow- 
ing being  her  best  week's  work  : — 


Date. 

Lat. 

Long. 

Course. 

Dist. 

Winds. 

Sept.  I 

9   oS. 

99SSE. 

8. 65   W. 

308 

Strong  trades,  squalls  and  showers 

..     2 

10  31 

95    2 

S.72  w. 

303 

/Strong  trades,  S.E.  to  S.S.E., 
\     occasional  lulls 

..      3 

II  S3 

8948 

S.7S  W. 

319 

Strong  trades,  heavy  beam  sea 

..     4 

13  21 

85    7 

S.73  w. 

289 

/ A.  M. ,  declining.  P.  M. ,  fresh. 
\     Heavy  S.E.  swell 

>.    S 

1446 

80  29 

S.71JW. 

283 

/Fresh  variable  trades,  S.S.E.  to 
\     S.E.  by  E.     Heavy  rain 

..     6 

16  18 

76  S 

S.70  W. 

271 

/A.M.,  clearing.  P.M.,  fresh 
\     trades 

.,     7 

1756 

7142 

S.69  w. 

273 

/  A.  M. ,  brisk.  P.  M. ,  decreasing 
\     trades 

THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  363 

This  totalled  2046  miles  for  the  week.  Norman 
Court  was  going  with  topgallant  stunsails  set  most  of 
the  time,  but  it  was  generally  a  job  to  get  your  soup. 
For  five  days  she  averaged  over  300  miles  a  day, 
but  she  had  to  be  watched.  Captain  Shewan  hove 
the  log  once  when  she  was  running,  wind  quarterly, 
with  main  royal  set.  He  brought  her  a  point  or 
two  to  windward  of  her  course  and  let  her  have  the 
weight  of  the  wind,  and  she  proved  to  be  going  1 5 
knots,  which  was  about  the  utmost  to  be  got  out 
of  her. 

On  the  25th  September  Norman  Court  was  off 
Agulhas,  a  strong  N.W.  gale  blowing,  and  a  great 
many  vessels  in  company.  She  crossed  the  equator 
on  15th  October,  80  days  out.  The  N.E.  trades 
were  lost  in  23°  N.,  31°  W.,  on  25th  October,  and 
she  had  the  usual  doldrum  weather  until  31st 
October,  when  she  was  in  31°  N.,  33°  W.  Here 
strong  northerly  gales  were  encountered,  and  she 
was  under  small  sail  for  a  whole  week  with  high 
seas  and  heavy  weather. 

On  6th  November  her  abstract  log  read  as 
follows: — "A.M.,  gale  decreasing,  wind  N.N.W., 
set  reefed  topsails.  10  a.m.,  wind  and  sea  increas- 
ing. Ship  making  some  tremendous  plunges  and 
smothering  herself  with  water.  Laid  her  to  the 
wind  under  lower  topsails.  Noon,  lat.  by  account, 
35°  32'  N.,  long,  by  account,  26°  50'  W.  ;  course, 
N.  81°  E,  ;   distance  107  miles.     Whole  gale  and 


364  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

very  heavy  sea.  Shipping  some  very  heavy  lumps. 
8  p.m.,  gale  increasing,  and  was  going  to  take  in 
fore  and  mizen  topsails  when  she  took  a  plunge  and 
broke  the  jibboom.  Kept  her  away  to  clear  the 
wreck,  and  let  her  run  under  lower  topsails.  Wind 
N.W.  and  westering.  Midnight,  whole  gale  with  rain. 
Tremendous  northerly  sea,  wind  N.W.  by  W." 

At  I  p.m.  on  1 6th  November,  Norman  Court 
made  the  Lizard  in  a  fresh  north-westerly  gale  ;  and 
she  took  her  pilot  off  Dungeness  just  24  hours  later. 
That  night  she  anchored  in  the  Downs,  113  days 
from  Foochow.  Sir  Lancelot  arrived  in  the  Downs 
on  the  following  day,  i8th  November,  so  that 
Norman  Court  beat  her  home  by  one  day  from  the 
Formosa  Channel.  Neither  vessel  was  favoured 
by  the  weather,  either  in  the  China  Sea,  off  the 
Cape  or  in  the  North  Atlantic,  or  their  times  would 
have  been  much  better. 

In  1875  Norman  Court  came  home  from  Shanghai 
in  120  days,  leaving  2nd  September,  and  on  her 
next  voyage  did  the  same  trip  in  106  days  with  the 
favourable  monsoon.  Then  in  1877  the  depression 
in  freights  led  her  owners  to  take  the  usual  steps, 
and,  whilst  she  was  on  the  China  Coast,  orders  came 
out  for  the  yards  to  be  stripped  off  her  mizen  mast 
and  her  crew  to  be  reduced.  Hardly  was  this  done, 
however,  before  she  was  chartered  to  load  tea  at 
Hong  Kong  for  Port  Elizabeth,  South  Africa — the 
tea  being  sent  down  to  Hong  Kong  by  steam.     And 


THE.  CHINA    CLIPPERS  365 

her  charter  contained  a  clause  which  stated  that  she 
was  to  get  5/-  a  ton  extra  if  she  arrived  in  Port 
Elizabeth  before  a  German  clipper  barque  similarly- 
loaded. 

The  German  got  away  lo  days  ahead,  but  in  spite 
of  a  slow  passage  to  Anjer  in  the  month  of  August, 
Norman  Court  arrived  at  Port  Elizabeth  on  28th 
September,  6i  days  out  and  20  days  before  the 
German. 

She  then  loaded  wool  at  the  Cape  for  London, 
and  on  19th  January,  1879,  made  the  Scillies,  43 
days  out  from  Table  Bay.  It  was  that  terrible 
January  when  the  Thames  was  frozen  over,  and 
old  seamen  will  also  remember  it  for  the  hard  time 
they  had  in  the  Channel  battling  against  the  chilly 
blast  of  the  N.E.  gale,  which  seemed  as  if  it  would 
never  end. 

Norman  Court  came  in  for  the  full  brunt  of  it, 
and  spent  three  days  off  the  Wolf  Rock  beating 
under  lower  topsails  ;  unlike  most  of  the  homeward 
bounders,  she  did  not  run  into  Falmouth  as  soon  as 
she  was  round  the  Lizard,  but  battered  her  way  up 
Channel,  tack  and  tack.  In  the  cabin  Captain 
Shewan  and  his  passengers  strove  to  keep  warm 
with  Cape  brandy  punch  and  sea  pies,  which  had  to 
be  brought  aft  in  the  saucepan  and  eaten  on  the 
cabin  settee,  so  heavily  was  the  Norman  Court 
pitching  into  it. 

The    crowd    forward,    however,    with    no    such 


366  THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS 

luxuries,  had  12  days  of  icy  spray,  wet  clothing, 
and  "maintopsail  haul,"  and,  at  last,  when  a  tug 
bore  down  on  the  hard-used  ship  off  Beachy 
Head,  they  listened  to  the  bargaining  with  the 
greatest  anxiety. 

The  wind  had  moderated  by  this  time,  though 
still  a  "dead  muzzier,"  and  Norman  Court  had  all 
sail  set.  The  tugboat  man  wanted  a  big  sum  to  tow 
the  clipper  to  London.  Captain  Shewan  offered  him 
;^5o,  at  which  the  tug  sheered  off,  and  Captain 
Shewan  immediately  went  about  and  stood  out  to 
sea  again. 

Again  the  tug  came  alongside.  ";^6o,"he  roared. 
But  Captain  Shewan  would  not  give  in,  and  once 
more  the  tug  dropped  astern.  Once  more  the 
Norman  Court  was  filled  away,  her  crew  literally 
groaning  as  they  hauled  aft  the  main  sheet.  The 
sail  was  hardly  set,  however,  before  the  steamboat 
came  panting  up  again,  and  the  welcome  cry  rang 
out  across  the  short  Channel  sea,  "  Haul  that  main- 
sail up  and  give  us  your  rope." 

With  a  stentorian  cheer  the  Norman  Court's  crew 
flew  to  the  buntlines  and  clew  garnets  and  the  ship 
was  stripped  of  her  canvas  in  record  time. 

The  Norman  Court  was  the  only  ship  to  beat  up 
Channel  in  that  month  of  freezing  easterly  gales, 
with  the  exception  of  the  beautiful  wool  clipper 
Mermerus,  one  of  the  finest  and  fastest  iron  ships 
ever  built.     Both  ships,  however,  might  have  saved 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  367 

the  January  wool  sales,  if  they  had  put  into 
Falmouth  instead  of  keeping  the  sea,  for  so  bad 
was  the  weather  and  so  great  was  the  fleet  in 
Carrick  Roads  that  special  tugs  were  chartered  at 
cheap  rates  to  tow  the  delayed  shipping  up  to  the 
London  river. 

After  this  strenuous  finish  to  many  years  of  tea 
racing.  Captain  Shewan  was  so  worn  in  health  that 
he  decided  to  take  a  rest  and  Captain  Dandy  Dunn 
took  the  Norman  Court  out  in  1880  and  brought 
her  home  with  what  was  to  be  her  last  tea  cargo. 
On  her  next  voyage  she  went  to  the  Coromandel 
Coast,  and  then  Barings  sold  her  to  a  firm  in 
Glasgow  for  the  Java  trade. 

On  her  first  homeward  passage  under  her  new 
owners,  she  was  running  up  the  Irish  Channel 
before  a  stiff  sou'wester  when  she  got  hard  and  fast 
ashore  at  the  back  of  Holyhead  and  went  to  pieces. 
Her  beautiful  figurehead  is  still  preserved  in  a 
garden  near  Holyhead. 

I  must  now  turn  to  Halloween.  Her  record  in 
the  China  trade  was  a  truly  wonderful  one  for  an 
iron  ship,  though  it  must  be  remembered  that  she 
always  sailed  late  and  had  the  advantage  of  the 
favourable  monsoon ;  the  sailing  and  arrival  dates 
of  her  five  best  passages  were  : — 

1873— Shanghai  to  London,  Nov.  19  to  Feb.  16  89  days 

1874—  „       »    Oct.  21  to  Jan.  19  -    90  .. 

1875—  „       >.    Nov.  23  to  Feb.  23  92  .. 

1876—  „       „    Nov.  13  to  Feb.  23  102  „ 
1881—    „       »    Nov.  27  to  Mar.  10  103  ,, 


368  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

I  give  the  log  of  her  1873  passage  in  the 
appendix.  Those  of  1874  and  1875  show  the  same 
uniformly  good  times  between  the  various  points. 
In  1875  she  was  delayed  two  days  by  having  to 
stop  at  St.  Helena  in  order  to  land  Captain  Watt, 
who  was  so  ill  that  he  died  almost  before  his  ship 
was  out  of  sight  of  the  island. 

His  chief  officer,  Fowler,  brought  the  Hallowe'en 
home  and  had  command  of  her  for  the  next  few 
years.  Her  outward  passages  were  usually  made  to 
Sydney,  and  though  she  never  equalled  her  maiden 
passage  she  was  considered  the  only  vessel  which 
could  seriously  rival  Thermopylae  and  Cutty  Sark 
in  speed. 

On  19th  August,  1886,  she  left  Foochow  for 
London  with  what  was  to  be  her  last  cargo  of  tea, 
for  at  7.30  p.m.  on  17th  January,  1887,  she  ran 
ashore  near  Salcombe  and  became  a  total  wreck. 

Lothair,  the  last  of  the  tea  clippers  (I  do  not 
count  the  iron  Serapis,  which  was  not  launched 
until  1875  and  saw  very  little  of  the  tea  trade)  was 
converted  to  a  barque  in  the  early  eighties,  and  for 
another  ten  years  she  still  flew  the  Red  Ensign 
Then  she  was  sold  to  Genoese  owners  who  again  sold 
her  to  the  Peruvians  about  1906  or  1907,  and  she  did 
not  disappear  from  the  register  until  191 1  ;  indeed 
it  is  quite  possible  that  she  is  still  knocking  about 
the  South  Pacific  with  Callao  as  her  home  port. 
We  now  come  to  the  great   Thermopylae.      She 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  369 

remained  in  the  service  of  her  original  owners,  the 
famous  Aberdeen  White  Star  Line,  until  1890,  and 
the  times  of  her  outward  and  homeward  passages 
whilst  under  their  house  flag  (which  are  given  in  the 
appendix)  show  the  wonderful  consistency  of  her 
work,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  her  sail  and  spar  plan 
was  twice  reduced.  .The  average  of  her  best  ten 
passages  out  to  Melbourne,  from  pilot  to  pilot,  give 
the  astonishing  time  of  67  days,  and  Captain 
Jenkins,  her  last  commander  under  Thompson's  flag, 
declared  that  on  the  31st  December,  1888,  only  two 
years  before  she  was  sold,  she  made  358  miles  in 
the  24  hours,  whilst  running  her  easting  down  in 
44°  S.,  68°  E.,  bound  out  to  Sydney. 

Her  only  bad  passage  out  to  the  Colonies  was 
the  one  to  Sydney  in  the  winter  of  1882-3.  But 
the  following  abstract  from  her  log  will  easily 
explain  the  reason  of  this  : — 


Date. 

TAt,. 

Long. 

Course. 

Diet. 

Remarks. 

1883 

e     / 

0    / 

fl 

/■Light  easterly  winds  2  p.m. 
{  Portland  bore  N.W.  by  W. 
V-     Landed  Mr.  Cobley,  pilot 

Jan.  22 









23 

49  21 N. 

S     2W. 

W.  by  S. 

"S 

/Mod.  S.S.E.  winds.  Heavy 
\     head  sea 

24 

4853 

750 

S.  77  W. 

129 

/Fresh  southerly  breeze  and  thick 
\     heavy  confused  sea 

25 

48    2 

824 

S.  12  w. 

so 

Strong  westerly  breeze 
/•Strong  westerly  gale.      Heavy 
squalls.      High    sea.      Ship 
.    under  lower  topsails 

26 

4634 

9  16 

S.  22  W. 

95 

(•Strong  gale  and  heavy  squalls. 
•!  Shifting  from  N.  W.  to  west. 
I     Head  reaching  on  both  tacks 

27 

4542 

9  16 

South 

52 

28 

46  10 

1008 

N.S3W. 

48 

/  Strong  gale  from  west,  i  i  eavy 
\     squalls 

AA 


370 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 


Date. 


Jan.  29 

30 
31 

Feb.  1 
2 
3 
4 
5 


4558 

44  51 

45  4 

44  45 

45  9 

44  28 

4456 
4502 

45  10 
4424 
42  46 

4253 
42  46 
4138 
3926 
39    6 

383s 

3708 
3653 


Long 


18    36  18 


1034 


1038 


9  5° 
1004 

11  26 

12  26 

1251 

13  51 
1442 

15  19 
1442 
1445 

14  01 
1338 

14  06 

15  13 

16  06 
15  59 


S.  14  E. 

S.  26  W. 
N.  17W. 

S.  34  W. 
S.  15  W. 

N.  65  W. 

N.  84  W. 

N.66W. 
S.  45  W. 
S.  23  W. 

N.  73  W. 

S.  22  E. 

N.  10  W. 

S,  8  E. 
S.  36  E. 

S.  35  W. 

S.  32  W. 

S.  71  W. 
S.    9  E. 


IS 


75 


Remarks. 


14 


44 


65 


41 


67 


108 


30 


28 


4S 


124 
24 


38 


Ship  laying  to  with  heavy 
W.S.W.  gale  and  rain.  10 
a.  m.  shifted  to  N.  W.  Heavy 
sea.  Ship  labouring  very 
much 

{'Strong  N.W.  gales  and  heavy 
confused  sea.    Ship  labouring 
heavy    and    shipping    much 
water  on  deck 
(Violent  gale  from  S.S.W.   to 
N.W.,  very  heavy  sea.    Main 
lower  topsail  and  new  mizen 
staysail  blew  to  pieces 
(Violentgale,ship  laying  tounder 
foretopmast  staysail  and  lee 
clew  of  fore  topsail.     8  p.  m. , 
fore  topsail  blew  away 
("Violent     gales    veering    from 
\     W.S.W.  to  N.W. 
r  Strong  W.  N.  W.  gale  and  heavy 

<  confused  sea.  No  lower  top- 
l^  sail  set.  Sailing  by  the  wind 
/-Fresh  westerly  breeze  and  clear. 

<  Bendinglower  topsails;  wind 
V.    freshening.  Sailingbythewind 

{Steering  by  the  wind ;   strong 
S.W.    breeze.      Ship  under 
lower  topsails  and  staysails 
{Strong  S.S.W.  gale  and  rain. 
Midnight,  calm.  Noon,  strong 
S.W.  gale,  ship  laying  to 
/First  part  strong  S.W. ;  second 
\     part  strong  N.  W.  gale 
(•Strong  N.W.  breeze  and  clear 
up  to  midnight,  then  strong 
W.S.W.  gale  to  noon 
Strong    W.S.W.    gale   for    16 
■j      hours,   then   shift   to   N.W. 
>-     Ship  head  reaching 
/Strong  W.S.W.  gale;  ship  head 
\     reaching  and  laying  to 
/Heavy  W.S.W.  gale  and  rain, 
X     latter  part  strong  gale 
/Strong  W.S.  W.  breeze  and  clear. 
•1      Reefed  upper  topsails.  Wear- 
'•     ing  ship. 

Strong  gale  from  W.S.W. 
Strong  gale  from  W.S.W. 
^  First  part  fresh  W.S.W.  breeze 
I      and  rain,  latter  part  light  airs 
■^     and  calms 

/  Lightsoutherly  windsandcalms. 
\     Heavy  N.W.  swell 
Calms  and  variables.     Tacking 
Light  variable  airs 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  371 

At  last  on  the  19th  the  sorely  battered  Thermopylae 
took  the  N.E.  trades.  She  was  actually  45  days 
from  Portland  to  the  line.  On  her  previous  voyage 
she  had  crossed  the  equator  16  days  out  from  the 
Lizard  Light  and  17  from  where  she  landed  her 
pilot  off  Dartmouth. 

I  can  only  find  one  instance  of  her  ever  being 
passed  at  sea  except  by  Cutty  Sark,  and  that  was 
when  homeward  bound  from  Sydney  in  1883,  when 
I  find  the  following  entry  in  her  log  : — "  31st  Dec- 
ember. Lat.  6°  o'  S.,  long.  29°  48'  W.  Course, 
N.  28°  W.  Distance  loi  miles.  Wind  N.E.,  steer- 
ing by  the  wind  (wind  light).  Spoke  a  German 
barque  which  went  right  out  ahead  of  us  in  24  hours 
from  S.W.  to  N.N.E.  There  is  no  mistake  but 
she  gave  us  the  go  by  in  style — the  first  I  have 
seen  do  so." 

Perhaps  Thermopylae's  copper  was  ragged  on  this 
occasion,  as  the  usual  entry  was  more  like  this : — 
"A.M.,  ship  in  sight  on  weather  bow,  going  same 
way.     P.M.,  same  ship  hull  down  on  lee  quarter." 

Thermopylae  was  the  pride  of  Thompson's  fleet, 
and  it  must  have  been  with  great  reluctance  that 
they  sold  her  in  1890  to  Mr.  Reford  of  Montreal, 
President  of  the  Rice  Milling  Company.  The  latter 
took  her  off  the  Australian  route  and  put  her  into 
the  rice  trade  between  Rangoon  and  Vancouver, 
British  Columbia. 

Even  in  these  last  years  she  made  many  fine  runs, 


372  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

notably  one  of  29  days  between  Shanghai  and 
Victoria,  B.C. 

Her  last  passage  under  the  British  flag  was  made 
between  Port  Blakely  and  Leith,  over  which  she 
took  141  days.  She  was  then  (1895)  sold  to  the 
Portuguese  Government,  who  turned  her  into  a 
training  ship  and  renamed  her  the  Pedro  Nunes. 

Finally  on  the  13th  October,  1907,  she  was  towed 
out  of  the  Tagus  by  two  Portuguese  men-of-war 
and  torpedoed.  Some  people  stated  that  she  was 
simply  used  as  a  target  in  a  naval  display,  others 
that  the  Portuguese  Government,  finding  that  she  was 
too  old  and  too  small  for  the  service  on  which  she 
was  engaged,  decided  to  give  her  a  "  naval  funeral  " 
in  honour  of  her  splendid  achievements  in  the  past, 
and  therefore  ceremoniously  towed  her  out  to  sea 
and  sunk  her  with  colours  flying  and  bands  playing. 

Let  us  hope  that  it  was  this  latter  most  worthy 
sentiment  that  inspired  the  Portuguese. 

I  have  left  the  Cutty  Sark  to  the  last  for  the 
simple  reason  that  she  is  the  only  ship  out  of  the 
whole  tea  fleet  which  is  still  afloat — and  not  only 
afloat  but  still  earning  her  living  on  the  great  waters. 

In  the  appendix  I  give  a  complete  record  of  her 
wonderful  work  in  the  Australian  trade  whilst  under 
the  British  flag.  A  few  notes  on  the  best  of  her 
passages  will,  however,  be  of  interest. 

In  the  winter  of  1877-8  she  made  her  best 
passage  out  to  Sydney,  after  very  nearly  ending  her 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  373 

days  on   the   Goodwin   Sands   during   one   of  the 
severest  gales  of  the  century. 

She  had  left  London  with  a  general  cargo  for 
Sydney  on  3rd  November,  1877.  But  the  weather 
was  so  bad  in  the  Channel  that  after  fighting  vainly 
for  five  days  to  make  headway  against  the  gale,  she 
put  back  to  the  Downs,  and  Sunday,  the  nth  of 
November,  found  her  riding  out  a  furious  S.W.  gale 
with  105  fathoms  on  her  starboard  and  60  fathoms 
on  her  port  anchor,  whilst  another  200  fathoms 
were  ranged  on  deck  in  case  of  emergency. 

The  storm  grew  steadily  worse  until  at  10.35 
p.m.  both  cables  parted,  the  wind  now  blowing 
a  hurricane. 

Before  sufficient  sail  could  be  set  to  put  the  Cutty 
Sark  under  control  of  her  helm,  she  ran  foul  of  two 
ships  anchored  near  her,  first  crashing  into  a  brig 
on  her  port  and  then  a  ship  on  her  starboard  hand. 
Luckily,  however,  she  drifted  clear  before  any  very 
serious  damage  was  done. 

A  very  heavy  sea  was  running  and  the  night  was 
pitch  dark;  Captain  Tiptaft  with  a  crew  of  28  all 
told  managed  to  set  a  fore  topmast  staysail,  reefed 
foresail  and  main  lower  topsail  and  steered  a  course 
through  the  Gull  Stream,  then  as  soon  as  he  was  to 
the  nor'ard  of  the  Goodwins  and  about  8  miles 
north  of  the  North  Foreland  Light,  he  hove 
her  to  on  the  starboard  tack  with  her  head  to 
the  southward. 


374  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Cutty  Sark  was  still,  however,  in  very  grave 
danger  both  by  reason  of  the  furious  gale  and  the 
damage  she  had  already  sustained.  She  had  no 
anchor  available  or  which  could  be  got  over  the 
bows  in  such  a  sea  as  was  running  and  only  45 
fathoms  of  chain  remaining. 

The  foresail  had  blown  away  along  with  other 
sails  torn  out  of  their  gaskets,  the  lower  topsail  had 
split  and  only  the  fore  topmast  staysail  remained 
intact.  At  the  same  time,  owing  to  the  two 
collisions,  all  her  port  fore  braces  were  gone,  so  that 
the  yards  could  not  be  braced  up,  and,  lastly,  her 
bulwarks  had  been  levelled  to  the  deck. 

Not  knowing  what  other  damage  might  not  have 
been  sustained  and  taking  into  consideration  the 
helplessness  of  his  position,  Captain  Tiptaft  now 
decided  to  send  up  rockets  and  burn  flares  for 
assistance.  At  about  4.30  p.m.  these  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  tug  M'Gregor,  which  was  some 
distance  to  the  S.W,  of  the  Kentish  Knock,  The 
tug  at  once  set  off  at  full  speed  and  within  an  hour 
was  alongside  the  distressed  vessel,  which  had  by 
this  time  drifted  close  to  the  South  Kentish 
Knock  buoy. 

With  great  difficulty  the  M'Gregor  managed  to 
pass  her  rope  aboard,  but  when  it  came  to  towing, 
it  was  found  that  with  her  utmost  pressure  of  steam, 
27  lbs.,  she  could  only  progress  at  the  rate  of  a  mile 
an  hour,  and  by  10  a.m.  she  had  only  towed  the 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  375 

Cutty  Sark  6  miles.  However,  another  tug,  the 
Benachie,  now  got  hold,  and  between  the  two  of 
them  the  hardly-used  ship  was  brought  safely- 
through  the  Princes  Channel  and  at  7  p.m.  was 
safely  moored  at  Greenhithe.  For  this  night's  work 
the  tugs  were  awarded  ;i^300o,  the  value  of  Cutty 
Sark,  her  cargo  and  freight  being  agreed  at  ;^8  5,000. 

After  being  repaired  and  re-fitted.  Cutty  Sark 
made  a  fresh  start,  and  leaving  the  East  India 
Docks  on  1 2  th  December  arrived  at  Sydney  on 
1 8th  February  after  the  wonderful  passage  of  68  days. 

From  Sydney  she  went  across  to  China,  but 
Captain  Tiptaft  found  the  homeward  rates  so  bad 
that  he  was  glad  to  load  tea  at  Hankow  back  to 
Sydney.  On  her  way  down  the  Yangtse  the  Cutty 
Sark  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  two  anchors  and 
chains  and  break  her  port  hawse  pipe,  and  on  her 
arrival  at  Shanghai  her  captain  died.  He  was 
succeeded  by  a  Captain  Wallace,  who  took  the 
Cutty  Sark  across  to  Sydney  and  back  and  then 
loaded  at  Manila  for  New  York. 

On  her  next  outward  passage  Cutty  Sark  was 
chartered  to  take  coal  out  to  the  American  squadron 
in  the  East.  But  here  again  bad  luck  overtook 
her.  Soon  after  leaving  Singapore,  Captain 
Wallace,  in  maintaining  discipline,  killed  a  member 
of  his  crew,  and  uncertain  as  to  what  would  be  the 
consequences  of  his  act,  allowed  the  matter  to  prey 
on  his  mind  so  much,  that,  at  last,  one  night  he 


376  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

disappeared  overboard,  upon  which  the  mate 
decided  to  bring  the  ship  back  to  Singapore  and 
so  lost  a  very  valuable  charter. 

It  was  on  her  arrival  home  in  the  year  1881  that 
Cutty  Sark  had  her  spars  and  sail  plan  reduced. 
She  continued  to  trade  between  the  Chinese  ports 
and  New  York  until  the  end  of  1883,  then  went  a 
voyage  out  to  Newcastle,  N.S.W.,  and  back. 

In  1882  a  Captain  Bruce  had  her,  then  Captain 
Moore  took  command  of  her  for  three  voyages.  It 
was  not,  however,  until  1885  when  Captain  Moore 
was  succeeded  by  Captain  Woodget  that  Cutty 
Sark  was  once  more  allowed  to  show  her  paces. 

On  her  first  outward  passage  under  Captain 
Woodget  she  had  a  most  interesting  race  to  Sydney 
against  the  two  iron  wool  clippers,  Samuel  Plimsoll 
and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  and  also  one  of  Smith's 
fast  cities,  the  City  of  York. 

All  three  vessels  were  noted  for  their  speed,  and 
the  result  was  of  the  most  level  description  as  the 
following  times  show  : — 


Ship. 

Off  the 
Start. 

Crossed 
the  Line. 

Passed 

Cape 

Meridian. 

Passed 

Cape 

Otway. 

Arrived 
Sydney. 

Days 
Out. 

City  of  York      ■     - 
Cutty  Sark 
Samuel  Plimsoll     - 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh 

April  2 
»      3 
>,      4 
..      4 

April  23 
..     23 
»     28 
„     28 

May  26 
»     19 
..     21 
„     22 

June  18 
»     16 
„     18 
»     20 

June  21 
„     20 

>•       21 
„      22 

80 
78 
78 
79 

Cutty  Sark's  first  three  homeward  passages  from 
Sydney  under  Captain  Woodget  came  very  near 
being  a  record. 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  377 

On  the  first  she  was  off  the  Lizard  67  days  out. 
On  the  second  she  left  Sydney  26th  March,  1887. 

Passed  Cape  Horn  2 1st  April      -  26  days  out. 

,,       Equator  13th  May  48         ,, 

„       Azores  25th  May  60         „ 

Took  her  pilot  off  Dungeness  6th  June  72        ,, 

On  her  third  she  was  off  Brighton  at  i  p.m.  on 
8th  March,  71  days  out. 

But  right  up  to  1895  she  continued  to  do  good 
work.  Unlike  the  American  clippers,  which  lost  a 
great  deal  of  their  speed  in  old  age  through  be- 
coming water-soaked.  Cutty  Sark,  when  over  twenty 
years  old,  seemed  to  be  as  fast  as  ever.  In  1895 
she  was  sold  to  the  Lisbon  firm  of  Ferreira  &  Co., 
her  name  being  changed  to  Ferreira,  yet  only  a 
few  years  back  I  heard  that  she  could  still  do  her  16 
knots  without  much  fuss.  For  the  past  few  years 
she  has  been  making  one  leisurely  voyage  a  year, 
half  the  time  being  spent  in  port,  her  round  being 
usually  Lisbon  to  Rio  de  Janeiro,  then  New  Orleans, 
and  from  there  back  to  the  Tagus.  Though,  of 
course,  the  Portuguese  make  no  attempt  to  drive 
her,  they  have  kept  the  yards  on  the  mizen  and  she 
makes  very  good  and  regular  passages. 

An  officer  of  the  Mercantile  Marine,  who  saw  her 
in  New  Orleans  last  May,  has  sent  me  the  following 
interesting  account  of  the  old  ship  : — 

"  Strolling  leisurely  one  day  along  the  water  front 
at  New  Orleans,  I  noticed  standing  prominently  out 
behind   an   old  shed  the  tall   tapering  spars  of  a 


378  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

sailing  ship.  This  class  of  cargo  carrier  being  more 
the  exception  than  the  rule  at  the  wharves  of  the 
Cresent  city,  and  taking  as  I  do  a  keen  interest  in 
the  doings  of  the  old  clippers,  my  curiosity  tempted 
me  to  investigate,  so  retracing  my  steps  I  made  the 
best  of  my  way  through  a  timber  yard  and  eventu- 
ally emerged  upon  the  old  and  dilapidated  wharf 
at  which  she  lay.  The  day  of  clipper  ships 
was  past  and  gone  long  ere  I  commenced  my 
apprenticeship  in  a  modern  Clyde  four-poster,  but 
I  needed  no  telling  that  this  was  one  of  the 
old  timers. 

"The  sun,  high  in  the  heavens,  shone  down  with  a 
dazzling  glare  on  her  weather-beaten  hull,  painfully 
emphasising  every  detail  of  its  shabby  exterior  and 
general  air  of  neglect,  but  though  shorn  of  much 
of  her  former  glory  the  unmistakable  stamp  of  an 
aristocrat  of  the  sea  was  ineradicable.  It  shone 
forth  despite  her  tattered  gear  and  pitted  bulwarks. 
Like  the  old  racer  one  sometimes  sees  relegated  to 
the  'shafts,'  the  breed  was  unmistakable. 

"  Floating  lazily  aloft  with  the  shield  and  crown  of 
Braganza's  noble  house  graven  upon  it,  was  the 
ensign  of  Portugal.  Wondering  vaguely  what  old 
clipper  she  might  be,  I  sauntered  along  the  wharf 
admiring  her  graceful  lines.  She  was  ship-rigged 
with  single  topgallant  sails  and  composite  built. 
Her  copper  sheathing  was  visible  apparently  intact. 
Looking  at  her  from  forward,  her  entrance  was  like 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  379 

the  thin  edge  of  a  wedge  and  it  filled  out  gradually 
to  her  waist.  A  little  fuller  perhaps  in  the  run,  she 
had  a  handsome  stern,  whilst  blazoned  on  her  deep 
counter  in  6-inch  yellow  letters  was  the  legend 
'Ferreira  *  Lisboa.' 

"  For  a  figure-head  she  had  a  comely  maiden  with 
swelling  bosom  and  hand  outstretched  pointing 
ahead — plentifully  bedaubed  with  multi-coloured 
paint.  Though  in  hopes  of  finding  some  trace  of 
her  old  name  on  the  bows,  I  searched  in  vain — 
everything  was  obliterated  and  only  the  glaring 
Ferreira  remained. 

"Making  up  my  mind  to  go  aboard,  I  glanced 
round  to  see  if  there  was  anyone  in  authority,  whose 
permission  ought  to  be  asked.  Everybody  in 
the  vicinity  seemed  to  be  enjoying  their  siesta. 
Several  huge  piles  of  staves  (her  cargo)  lay 
around,  upon  which  sundry  '  niggahs '  lazily  basked, 
whiling  the  sunny  hours  as  only  a  Southern  nigger 
can.  Walking  over  the  gangway,  I  made  my  way 
slowly  aft  and  mounted  the  poop. 

"To  give  the  dagoes  credit,  they  certainly  did 
devote  a  little  attention  to  this  part  of  the  ship 
though  occasional  startling  splashes  of  colour  (so 
dear  to  the  Portuguese)  struck  a  jarring  note.  The 
upper  poop  consisted  of  a  raised  deckhouse,  some 
l\  feet  high.  It  was  neatly  railed  and  hammock- 
netted  round.  Along  the  port  and  starboard  sides 
ran  a  row  of  garden  seats.      I   call   them   garden 


380  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

seats  as  they  were  of  a  pattern  more  generally- 
found  in  parks  and  gardens  than  on  board  ship. 
Two  individuals  occupied  this  poop,  one  worked 
away,  stitching  on  the  gore  of  a  topsail,  the  other 
slumbered  peacefully  on  one  of  the  garden  seats. 
The  running  gear  all  came  down  to  the  outer  or 
lower  poop,  from  which  the  mizen  rigging  was  set 
up.  Walking  round  this  outer  poop  I  came  to  the 
after  end  of  the  upper  one,  abaft  which  was  the 
steering  gear. 

"I  examined  the  wheel  and  gear  with  interest, 
and  also  the  brass  bell,  but  though  both  were  of  an 
old  pattern,  I  failed  to  find  any  trace  of  the 
ship's  original  name  on  either.  Advancing  on  the 
individual  who  was  goring  the  topsail  and  who,  by 
the  way,  did  not  seem  in  the  least  disturbed  at  my 
presence,  I  addressed  him— 

"  '  You  speak  English  ? ' 

"  He  looked  up  and  shook  his  head. 

"  '  Are  you  an  officer  ? '  I  hazarded. 

" '  No,  sabe." 

"  '  Where  is  the  captain  ? '  I  asked  at  last  as  a  sort 
of  forlorn  hope.    The  reply  somewhat  astonished  me. 

" '  Me  capitan,'  he  said,  and  went  on  with  his 
work.  I  then  made  various  gestures  to  signify  I 
would  like  to  see  down  below.  He  nodded 
acquiescence,  so  leaving  him  to  his  stitching  and  the 
'una  pelota'  (for  such  I  took  him  to  be)  to  his 
slumbers,  I  descended  the  after  companion. 


DECK    OF    "CUTTY    SARK"    IN    1913. 


Mainmast    and    Midshiphouse    looking    forvi^ard. 


Break    of  the    Poop. 


To  /„,;■  rage  ::sii. 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  3S1 

"  An  alleyway  led  into  the  saloon  on  either  side  of 
which  were  doors  with  cut  glass  handles.  The 
saloon  was  a  fairly  spacious  apartment  running 
adiwartship.  It  was  panelled  neatly  in  teak  and  birds' 
eye  maple  and  was  adorned  with  much  fancy  carving. 
Beautiful  as  it  had  evidently  once  been,  it  was  pretty 
bare  now,  the  marble-topped  sideboard  and  fireplace 
and  the  old  brass  lamp  which  swung  in  the  skylight 
being  probably  the  only  original  furniture  left. 

"Another  alleyway  led  from  the  saloon  forrard, 
and  as  I  passed  along  it  I  glanced  in  through  an 
open  door  into  the  captain's  room.  Like  the  saloon 
it  was  stripped  of  most  of  its  old  fittings,  only  a 
marble-topped  washstand  and  a  heavy,  teak  four- 
post  bed  (the  latter  not  often  seen  in  ships 
nowadays)  remaining.  Various  rooms  occupied 
either  side  of  the  alleyway  and  at  the  end  another 
companionway  gave  egress  to  the  lower  poop.  Not 
caring  to  intrude  I  investigated  no  more  of  the  rooms 
beyond  noticing  over  the  doors  that  old  familiar 
legend  '  certified  to  accommodate  one  seaman.' 

"Entering  a  door  under  the  companion  stairway  I 
presently  found  myself  in  the  after  'tween  deck. 
Overhead  the  rust  clung  in  huge  scales  to  the 
diagonal  tieplates  and  beams.  The  frames  by  the 
feel  of  them  were  still  in  a  fair  state  of  preservation, 
though  they  had  not  known  a  hammer  or  slice  or 
paint  for  many  a  day. 

"  Along  the  port  and  starboard  sides  ran  a  row  of 


382  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

ports  (now  all  plugged  up)  showing  that  at  one  time 
she  had  carried  human  freight  here — emigrants, 
no  doubt. 

"  Coming  to  the  main  hatchway,  I  peered  closely 
at  its  pitted  surface  endeavouring  to  decipher  some 
letters  and  figures  cut  on  the  after  coaming,  but 
only  managed  to  make  out  63556  and  921 100  tons. 

"Continuing  forward  through  the  fore  'tween 
decks  which  contained  the  usual  miscellaneous 
collection  of  old  junk,  blocks  and  rusty  wire,  I 
came  to  the  fore  hatch.  And  as  I  looked  down 
below  at  her  wedgelike  entrance,  I  thought  that 
assuredly  it  needed  clipper  freights  to  make  the  ship 
pay.  One  could  hardly  find  room  to  stand  up  on 
either  side  of  the  keelson,  so  fine  was  she.  The 
iron  collision  bulkhead  came  down  triangle-shaped, 
the  apex  at  the  keelson,  and  I  mentally  compared 
it  with  those  of  some  modern  windjammers  and 
tramps  which  form  nearly  a  square. 

"Retracing  my  steps  aft  and  climbing  through  the 
after  hatchway,  I  reached  the  deck  again  and 
was  not  sorry  to  feel  the  bright  sunshine,  fqr 
the  old  'tween  deck  had  a  chilly,  eerie  atmosphere 
about  it. 

"  Gazing  round,  I  now  found  many  things  to 
interest  me.  Her  decks  were  badly  rutted  and 
cracked  and  sorely  needed  oil.  Her  rigging,  fitted 
with  wire  lanyards  (a  doubtful  boon)  would  have 
been  better  for  a  little  tar  and  service.      As  the 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  383 

Yanks  would  say,  they  were  '  Hell  on  chains,'  chain 
strops  being  in  abundance.  And  where  a  backstay 
had  parted  or  a  fore  and  after  gone  in  the  nip,  the 
deficiency  was  supplied  in  this  manner.  A  very 
handy  device  caught  my  eye  abaft  the  main  rigging, 
viz.,  a  single  winch  barrel  with  double  purchase 
and  handle  clamped  to  the  topgallant  pin  rail. 
Apparently  it  could  be  used  with  equal  facility  for 
taking  in  a  bit  on  the  main  sheet  or  bousing  down 
the  crossjack  tack  in  a  stiff  breeze.  It  did  not  look, 
though,  as  if  it  had  had  much  use  of  late. 

"The  teak  wood  stanchions  at  the  break  of  the 
poop,  once  a  mass  of  shining  brass  and  glisten- 
ing varnish  were  now — ye  gods ! — painted  with 
aluminium  paint.  It  would  have  made  an  old 
deep-water  mate  grind  his  teeth  to  see  such  a 
desecration  of  the  time-honoured  methods  of  pre- 
serving 'bright  work.'  Near  by  a  row  of  teak- 
wood  buckets  stood  in  racks.  These  were  brown 
painted  and  adorned  with  silver  bands — too  much 
trouble  to  scrub  them,  I  suppose. 

"  As  I  walked  past  I  could  not  help  glancing  in  to 
what  had  once  been  the  half-deck.  The  door  was 
open,  so  seeing  no  one  at  home  I  stepped  in. 
A  roomy  enough  place,  it  apparently  once  provided 
accommodation  for  quite  a  number  of  apprentices. 
It  was  now  the  abode  of  the  petty  officers ;  its  old 
deal  table,  well-worn  floor  and  battered  bunks  quite 
reminded  me  of  old  times.     In  the  fore  part  of  the 


384  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

after  house  a  donkey  room  was  situated  containing 
an  engine  and  winch  of  ancient  pattern.  Overhead 
were  the  boat  skids  upon  which  two  launches  and 
two  boats  rested  in  chocks,  whilst  on  the  deck 
above  the  old  harness  casks  were  still  in  possession, 

"The  main  fife-rail,  inside  of  which  the  original 
old  bilge  pumps  stood,  was  in  pretty  bad  shape, 
though  it  must  at  one  time  have  looked  very  fine 
with  all  its  brass  and  carving.  'Way  up  above 
the  rail  I  noticed  the  lower  block  of  the  topsail 
halliards,  a  chain  pennant  reached  from  it  to  the 
deck,  a  rope-saving  device  no  doubt.  The  forward 
house,  a  neatly  panelled  structure,  was  identical 
with  the  half-deck  but  somewhat  larger.  She  was 
well  provided  with  boats,  two  more  being  on  the  top 
of  this  house — a  wise  precaution,  as  some  day, 
like  the  '  one  horse  shay '  she  will  go  to  pieces 
all  at  once. 

"  Making  my  way  up  the  ladder,  I  reached  the 
foc's'le-head,  a  pretty  bare  spot,  enclosed  by  sundry 
rust-eaten  stanchions  with  a  ridge  rope  rove 
through  them.  Two  pairs  of  hardwood  bollards 
were  placed  on  each  side,  on  one  of  which  a 
solitary  brass  cap  glistened  forlornly.  The  old 
whisker-booms  were  still  in  use,  one  out,  the  other 
in,  all  askew.  The  jibboom  was  rigged  in,  and  as 
I  looked  at  the  old  spar  the  lines  of  a  deep-water 
song  came  to  my  mind. 

' ' '  There  was  no  talk  of  shortening  sail  by  him  who  trod  the  poop, 
And  her  boom  with  the  weight  of  a  mighty  jib  bent  like  a  wooden  hoop.' 


THE    CHINA    CUPPERS  385 

"  Looking  over  the  side  I  again  admired  her  clean 
entrance  and  knife-like  bows.  The  old  wooden- 
stocked  anchors  hung  at  the  cat-heads,  and  the 
ring  stoppers  were  fitted  with  a  patent  'tumbler' 
releasing  gear  eliminating  the  use  of  the  time- 
honoured  maul. 

"Coming  down  from  the  foc's'le-head,  I  had  almost 
made  up  my  mind  to  go  when  something  caught 
my  eye,  which  I  had  overlooked.  Standing  in 
pathetic  solitude,  suspended  from  a  solitary  cast-iron 
dolphin,  was  the  old  forward  bell.  Surely  this 
would  give  me  a  clue  to  her  name,  I  thought.  I 
went  up  and  examined  it  closely.  Its  surface 
appeared  at  first  sight  perfectly  smooth,  thickly 
coated  with  silver  paint  as  it  was.  Presently, 
however,  I  thought  I  could  discern  a  very  faint 
trace  of  lettering.  At  which  I  extracted  my  knife 
and  scraping  away  gently,  gradually  revealed  the 
date  1869.  I  now  hesitated,  not  caring  to  further 
mutilate  the  Portuguese  artistic  work,  but  reflecting 
that  I  might  as  well  be  hung  for  a  sheep  as  a  lamb, 
I  took  up  my  knife  again.  A  few  more  strokes  of 
the  sharp  blade  and  there,  standing  out  boldly  was 
a  name,  once  a  byeword  amongst  seafarers,  which 
raised  a  thrill  such  as  that  of  the  Mauretania  or 
Lusitania  could  never  raise— the  Cutty  Sark\  I 
tapped  the  old  bell  gently  with  my  knife  and  heard 
again  that  mellow  sound  which  through  the  trades, 
the  tropics   and   the   roaring  forties   had  for  nigh 

BB 


386  THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

half   a   century   marked   alike    the    dark   and   the 
sunny  hours. 

"Well,  time  was  flying,  and  I  had  a  long  walk 
before  me,  so  I  made  my  way  ashore.  Standing  on 
the  wharf  I  surveyed  her  once  more  with  a  keener 
interest.  The  setting  sun  had  almost  reached  the 
horizon.  Its  mellow,  golden  light,  shining  on  her 
spars  and  rigging,  seemed  to  transform  her  and 
clothe  her  in  some  of  her  ancient  glory.  Hidden 
were  the  marks  of  decay,  and  she  once  more  looked 
the  ship  of  speed  and  beauty." 

It  is  evident  from  this  account  that  the  famous 
old  ship  has  nearly  run  her  time,  though  my  friend 
says  that  her  copper  was  in  good  condition  and  that 
he  could  see  no  water  in  her  hold.  It  is  a  curious 
coincidence  that  the  two  great  rivals,  Thermopylae 
and  Cutty  Sark,  should  have  spent  their  old  age 
under  the  same  flag  and  with  the  same  home  port. 

It  has  always  been  a  wonder  to  me  that  some  rich 
deep-water  yachtsman  did  not  think  of  picking  up 
one  of  these  beautiful  little  tea  clippers  when  her 
racing  days  were  over,  and  converting  her  into  a 
yacht.  Such  a  vessel  as  Thermopylae,  Cutty  Sark, 
Sir  Lancelot,  Lothair,  Leander  or  Titania  could 
have  been  had  for  a  song  in  the  early  nineties — and 
what  a  yacht  she  would  have  made !  All  that 
would  have  been  needed  would  have  been  a  couple 
of  launches  on  the  skids  and  the  conversion  of  the 
hold  into  a  spacious  suite  of  cabins.     Such  a  yacht 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS  387 

would  have  been  a  worthy  flagship  for  the  R.Y.S., 
bringing  back  memories  of  Lord  Yarborough's 
famous  Falcon, 

If  we  had  not  been  a  nation  of  shopkeepers  there 
is  little  doubt  but  that  the  Thermopylae  or  Cutty 
Sark  would  still  be  flying  the  British  flag,  preserved 
by  public  subscription  for  the  important  part  they 
played  in  the  greatness  of  our  Mercantile  Marine. 

This  book  has  been  a  small  attempt  to  preserve 
the  records  of  these  beautiful  ships  before  their 
history  and  achievements  are  forever  forgotten,  and 
I  bring  it  to  a  finish  with  the  sad  thought  that  along 
with  the  China  clipper  there  has  departed  not  only 
that  high  art  called  seamanship,  but  also  much  of 
the  romance,  charm  and  virility  of  sea  life. 


SAIL    PLAN    < 

by  John  Rennie,   Chief 


UTTY   SARK." 

'nan  of  Messrs.    Scott  &"  Linton. 


APPENDIX 

APPENDIX    I. 


S/ar  Plan  of  "  Cutty  Sark." 

Bowsprit.                       * 
Jibboom  (extreme  length)  60   feet 

Foremast. 

Extreme  length  (deck  to  truck)       

Lower  mast  (deck  to  cap)    ... 

Lower  mast  (masthead)         

Topmast  ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         

Topgallant  mast 
Royal  mast 

Fore  yard  .         ...         ...         

Lower  topsail  yard  

Upper  topsail  yard     ...         

Topgallant  yard  

Royal  yard      

Mainmast. 

Extreme  length  (deck  to  truck)       

Lower  mast  (deck  to  cap)    ... 

Lower  mast  (masthead)         ...         

Topmast 

Topmast  (masthead) 

Topgallant  mast  ...         ...         ...         

Royal  mast 

Skysail  mast     

Main  yard        

Lower  topsail  yard 

Upper  topsail  yard 

Topgallant  yard  

Royal  yard 
Skysail  yard 

MizBN  Mast. 

Extreme  length  (deck  to  truck)      

Lower  mast  (deck  to  cap) 

Lower  mast  (masthead)         ...         ..-         

Topmast  ...         •■•         ■•■         

Topgallant  mast  ...         ••■         

Royal  mast       ...         

Crossjack  yard 

Lower  topsail  yard      

Upper  topsail  yard      

Tof^allant  yard  

Royal  yard       

Spanker  gaff     ...         

Spanker  boom 


126 

feet 

58 

II 

14 

II 

48 

,, 

26 

»S 

174 

»» 

78 

,, 

68 

II 

64 

» 

48 

»» 

38 

" 

142 

feet 

61 

14 

48 

9 

26 

IS 

144 

78 

68 

64 

48 

38 

34 

los 

feet 

52 

11 

II 

11 

38 

11 

194 

>> 

134 

„ 

60 

II 

54 

>> 

48 

II 

39 

II 

33 

II 

34 

>l 

52 

>» 

APPENDIX. 


THE    CHINA   CLIPPERS 


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THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 


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APPENDIX 

APPENDIX   B. 


Saii  Plan  of  Tea  Clipper  "  Sir  Lancelot." 


Gross 

Seims, 

J^ame  of  SaiL 

Tarda  per 
SaU- 

Linings, 
Bands, 

Not 
Yards  of 

makers' 

Bunts, 

Sail  Area. 

Invoice. 

Tablitigs. 

Flying  jib 

Outer  jib 

250 
105 

27 
18 

223 
87 

Inner  jib   .         .         .         !         . 

140 

19 

121 

1-  ore  topmast  staysail 

85 

13 

72 

„     royal          .... 

84 

IS 

69 

„     topgallantsail     . 

205 

50 

„     upper  topsail     . 

230 

64 

166 

„     lower  topsail      . 

Z43 

71 

172 

Foresail 

509 

96 

413 

Main  topmast  staysail 

240 

22 

218 

„     staysail      .... 

144 

IS 

129 

„     middle  staysail . 

los 

12 

93 

„     topgallant  staysail      . 

»"5 

12 

93 

,,     royal  staysail    . 

95 

II 

84 

.,     royal         .... 

102 

16 

86 

„     skysail      .... 

63 

Hi 

514 

,,     topgallantsail    . 

222 

S3 

169 

,,     upper  topsail     . 

236 

64 

172 

„     lower  topsail     . 

2S5 

74 

181 

Mainsail    .... 

594 

108 

486 

Mizen  staysail    .... 

135 

17 

118 

„      topmast  staysail 

113 

16 

97 

„      topgallant  staysail    . 

79 

12 

67 

Crossjack 

378 

91 

287 

Mizen  topsail     . 

287 

55 

232 

„      topgallantsail  . 

141* 

35i 

106 

„      royal 

66i 

lOi 

56 

Spanker    ..... 

266 

24 

242 

Studding  sails — 

Main  lower 

274 

18 

256 

„     topmast     . 

148 

12 

136 

„     topj;allant . 

73 

8 

65 

„     royal 

65 

7 

5« 

Fore  lower 

274 

18 

256 

„     topmast 

148 

12 

136 

„    topgallant . 

73 

8 

65 

„     royal 
Running  yards,  3  feet  by  2  feet 
=  Square  feet 

57 

6 

51 

6590 

iizii 

S468i 

39.540 

6729 

32,811 

Extra  sails  not  included : — 
Jamie  Green 
Gaff  topsail  . 
Ringtail 
Jib-o'-jib      . 


142  yards  (about). 
lOS      „  „ 

163      „  „ 

99      »  >> 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

APPENDIX  C. 


spar  Measurements   of  "Norman    Court." 


Bowsprit. 


Jibboom  (extreme  length),  68  feet  4J  inches. 

Boom  eiui,  2  feet  4J  inches.     Flying  boom,  12  feet.     Outer  boom,  IS  feeU 

Inner  boom,  17  feet.     Heel,  22  feet. 

Foremast. 

Topmast,  43  feet  (masthead,  7  feet  6  inches). 

Topgallant  mast,  25  feet 

Royal  mast,  15  feet. 

Lower  mast,  58  feet  deck  to  cap  (masthead,  13  feet  3  inches). 

Extreme  length  (deck  to  truck),  120  feet. 

Foreyard  (extreme),  71  feet. 

Lower  topsail  yard,  61  feet. 

Upper  topsail  yard,  56  feet. 

Topgallant  yard,  41  feet. 

Royal  yard,  32  feet. 

Mainmast. 
Top  mast,  46  feet  6  inches  (masthead,  7  feet  6  inches). 
Topgallant  mast,  26  feet. 
Royal  mast,  16  feet. 
Skysail  mast,  10  feet. 

Lower  mast,  61  feet  6  inches,  deck  to  cap  (masthead,  13  feet  6  inches). 
Extreme  length  (deck  to  truck),  139  feet. 
Main  yard,  74  feet. 
Lower  topsail  yard,  65  feet. 
Upper  topsail  yard,  60  feet. 
Topgallant  yard,  44  feet. 
Royal  yard,  32  feet. 
Skysail  yard,  24  feet. 

MizEX  Mast. 
Top  mast,  33  feet. 
Topgallant  mast,  18  feet. 
Royal  mast,  12  feet. 

Lower  mast,  50  feet  6  inches,  deck  to  cap  (masthead,  10  feet). 
Extreme  length  (deck  to  truck),  98  feet. 
Crossjack  yard,  60  feet  6  inches. 
Lower  topsail  yard,  50  feet. 
Upper  topsail  yard,  44  feet. 
Topgallant  yard,  32  feet  4  inches. 
Royal  yard,  24  feet. 

Spanker  gaff  (extreme),  31  feet ;   gaff  end,  5  feet;    span,  21  feet. 
Spanker  boom,  48  feet. 


APPENDIX 

APPENDIX    D. 


Log  of  "  Ther 

tnofylae"  on 
London 

hir  Maiden    Voyage^  i868-l86p. 

TO  Melbourne. 

Date. 

Lat. 

Longf. 

Dist. 

Kemarks. 

Nov.  5 
6 
7 

0     J 

0     1 

S.30  p.m.,  at  Gravesend 

5  a.m.,  left  Gravesend 

8 

6  p.m.,  Lizard  N.  20  miles 

9 

48  30  N. 

7   2W. 

168 

Var.  moderate 

lO 

4S38 

13  16 

274 

S.E.,N.W.,  fresh 

II 

4313 

1538 

213 

Var.  moderate 

'S.S.E.     Lost  Peter  Johnson  overboard, 
^     ship  hove  to  for  an  hour  without  success 

12 

41  II 

1924 

194 

13 

39  44 

22  10 

138 

S.S.E.  strong  gales 

14 

3840 

2258 

69 

Var.  moderate 

IS 

3SI2 

21  54 

213 

North-westerly,  strong 

i6 

3039 

22  55 

279 

North-westerly,  fresh 

17 

29    9 

2343 

99 

N.,  S.E.,  moderate 

i8 

2738 

26    S 

200 

Sou'-westerly,  moderate 

19 

2645 

24  12 

112 

Sou'-westerly,  light 

20 

2632 

2439 

Sou'-westerly,  light 

21 

2514 

2432 

'68 

Easterly,  light 

22 

21  39 

26   5 

228 

E.,  fresh 

23 

17  18 

2625 

268 

Nor'-easterly,  fresh 

24 

1318 

2532 

250 

E.,  fresh 

25 

10   6 

2433 

210 

Easterly,  moderate 

26 

6  53 

2332 

202 

South-easterly,  moderate 

27 

427 

24    3 

140 

South-easterly,  heavy  squalls 

28 

I  23 

2550 

228 

South-easterly,  moderate 

29 

213S. 

29   0 

2/1 

South-easterly,  fresh 

3° 

630 

21    8 

288 

South-easterly,  strong 

Dec.  I 

II  22 

3128 

293 

Easterly,  variable 

2 

16  14 

31  2S 

294 

Easterly,  strong 

3 

20  24 

3026 

256 

Easterly,  moderate 

4 

23   0 

29     0 

176 

Easterly,  light 

5 

2432 

2739 

118 

Easterly,  light 

6 

25  53 

27    8 

81 

Northerly,  light 

7 

27  22 

2628 

96 

Northerly,  light 

8 

29   4 

25  10 

123 

Northerly,  light 

9 

3224 

2235 

240 

Nor'-westerly,  fresh  gale 

10 

2626 

1851 

224 

Sou'-westerly,  blowing  a  gale 

II 

3834 

13    2 

303 

Sou'-westerly,  strong 

12 

3938 

634 

314 

W.S.W.,  strong 

13 

40  34 

0  2SE. 

324 

S.W.,  strong 

14 

4051 

633 

280 

Var.,  moderate 

IS 
16 

4.1  SI 

II  19 

230 

Northerly,  fresh 

42  29 

17  30 

282 

Nor'-westerly,  moderate 

17 
18 

> 

43    6 
43    9 
43  44 

43  57 

23  41 

278 

Nor'-westerly,  strong 

28  29 

211 

Nor'-easterly,  fresh 

19 

20 

3456 
4030 

284 
240 

Nor'-easterly,  strong 
Northerly  gale 

^iii  THE   CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Log  of  the  "  Thermopylae,"  1868-1869—CorA. 
London  to  Melbourne. 


Date. 

lAt. 

Long. 

Di3t. 

Remarks. 

Dec.  21 

43  as 

47  34 

305 

Northerly  gale 

22 

43  45 

5418 

290 

Northerly  gale 

23 

42  57 

61  17 

310 

Northerly  gale 

24 

43    6 

67  21 

266 

Northerly,  strong 

25 

4257 

7426 

312 

Northerly,  strong 

26 

4322 

8028 

26s 

Northerly,  fresh 

27 

43  15 

8541 

229 

Northerly,  fresh 

28 

4322 

9040 

222 

Easterly,  fresh 

29 

4340 

94  55 

18s 

N.E.,  light 

30 

43  'I 

102  II 

320 

S.W.,  gale 

SA^' 

43   4 

10643 

200 

N.N.W.,  moderate 

1869 
Jan.    I 

43  10 

III  54 

228 

N.N.W.,  moderate 

2 

43    7 

117  14 

248 

N.N-W.,  fresh 

3 

42    7 

12436 

330 

Northerly,  strong 

4 

4039 

131  18 

326 

Northerly,  strong 

5 

3948 

136  14 

225 

Sou'-westerly,  moderate 

6 

3841 

140  18 

202 

S.E.,  Percy  Island 

7 

Cape  Otway,  N.  i°  W.,  12  miles 

8 

Calm  and  light 

9 

7  p.  m. ,  came  to  anchor  in  Port  Phillip  Harb. 

] 

Vewcast 

le,  N.S.W.,  TO  Shanghai. 

Feb.  10 

Left  the  harbour,  7.30  a.m. 

II 

60 

E.N.E.  to  S.E.,  calm 

12 

3246S. 

156   3E. 

152 

N.E.  and  E.,  very  unsteady 

13 

32  13 

15826 

1 25 

N.E.  and  N.,  passed  Lord  Howe's  Island 

14 

2830 

160  ss 

250 

N.,  strong,  squally 

15 

2332 

162  16 

300 

N.,  clear 

16 

1947 

161  58 

230 

N.W.,  clear 

J7 

1536 

162  II 

251 

N.  i°  E. ,  heavy,  squally 

18 

1331 

16324 

14s 

N.N.E.,  thunder  and  lightning 

19 

12  16 

16317 

75 

N.,  heavy  rain 

20 

83s 

164   0 

224 

N.,  heavy  rain  and  thunder 

21 

4  16 

16524 

262 

N.  and  E.,  lightning 

22 

13s 

16648 

180 

N.N.E.,  heavy  squalls 

(N.W.   by  W.,  off  Pleasant  Head,  got 

\     quantity  of  jugs  and  cocoanuts 

23 

0  19 

16650 

75 

24 

I  14  N. 

165    5 

130 

N.W. 

25 

324 

162  25 

200 

N.W.  i°W.,  squally 

26 

647 

15958 

250 

N.W.  by  N.,  clear 

27 

1028 

15635 

297 

N  W.  by  W.,  fresh 

28 

1328 

152    4 

298 

N.W.  by  W.,  fresh 

Mar.  1 

IS  54 

14825 

256 

N.W.  by  W.,  squally 

2 

17  14 

146    2 

160 

/N.W.  by  W.,  passed  between  Faraltan 
\     and  Guguants 

3 

1956 

1423s 

255 

N.W.  by  W.  4°  W.,  squally 

4 

21  46 

13948 

200 

N.W.  by  W.  4°  W.,  light 

5 

2223 

13819 

82 

N.W.  by  W.,  light 

6 

2332 

13643 

no 

N.W.  by  W.,  light  and  variable 

7 

2523 

13334 

202 

/N.N.W.,    passed     Golden,    Sydney    to 
\      Shanghai,  59  days 

APPENDIX 

Log  of  "  Thermopylae,"  jS6S-TS6p—Cont. 

Newcastle,  N.S.W.,  to  Shanghai. 


Date. 

Lat. 

Long. 

Dist. 

Remarks. 

Mai.  8 

2657 

129  26 

239 

W.N.W.,  passed  Fok  Island 

9 

2930 

126  II 

230 

W.  by  N. ,  heavy  squalls,  thunder  &  l^htning 
fW.N.W.  OffVido.  Got  pilot.  Passage 
L     pilot  to  pilot  28  days,  quickest  on  record 

lO 

31  20 

124    0 

200 

13 

Shanghai.     Thick  and  calm. 

FoocHow  TO  London. 

July    3 

S  a.m.,  proceeded  down  in  tow 

4 

Pinnacle  Island,  W.  by  N. 

s 

3  p.m.,  passed  Adam's  Point 

6 

23   6N. 

126  32E. 

174 

Sou'-westerly,  fresh 

7 

23    2 

126    I 

48 

Var.,  moderate 

8 

21  13 

123  S9 

157 

South-easterly,  squally 

9 

19  13 

12028 

233 

South-easterly,  fresh 

10 

1836 

"837 

"5 

South-westerly,  light 

II 

18  16 

116   2 

148 

South-easterly,  fresh 

12 

1737 

112  38 

200 

Southerly,  fresh 

13 

1643 

10949 

176 

Southerly,  fresh 

14 

IS  43 

109   S 

63 

South-easterly,  light 

IS 

14   6 

no   7 

114 

South-westerly,  light 

16 

1237 

10929 

96 

South-westerly,  light.   CapeVarella  6  miles 

17 

II  47 

10930 

5° 

South-westerly,  light 

18 

816 

10949 

212 

Westerly,  strong  and  squally 

19 

S    9 

109  21 

191 

South-westerly,  strong  and  squally 

20 

416 

109  17 

53 

South-westerly,  moderate 

21 

328 

10922 

48 

South-westerly,  light 

22 

240 

109  54 

58 

South-westerly,  light 

23 

2   6 

109    6 

61 

Var.,  light 

24 

051 

10840 

77 

Boorang  Island,  E.  by  S.,  10  miles 

25 

0  4SS. 

108  34 

96 

South-easterly,  light 

26 

128 

10748 

63 

Van,  light 

27 

3  IS 

106  59 

116 

Spoke  AchilUs,  10  days  out  from  Foochow 

28 

i6s 

6  a.m.,  Anjer  Light,  S.S.W.,  8  miles 

29 

7S4 

10 1  s^ 

223 

South-easterly,  fresh 

30 

9  22 

9721 

284 

South-easterly,  squally 

3' 

10  S9 

93  10 

267 

South-easterly,  fresh 

Aug.  I 

1242 

8843 

290 

S.S.E.,  strong 

2 

14  31 

8328 

318 

E.S.E.,  strong 

3 

16   S 

79  44 

236 

South-easterly,  moderate.    Spoke  Leander 

4 

17  30 

7633 

203 

S.E.,  moderate.     Leander  10  mAts 

s 

1845 

7258 

217 

S.E.,  fresh.     Leander  14  miles 

6 

19  16 

71  26 

97 

S.E.,  light 

7 

19   4 

6828 

170 

/  S.W.  to  S.E.  Heavy  gale,  and  sea  washed 
\     away  headrail 

8 

21  11 

6353 

249 

S.  by  E.,  under  topsails  and  courses 

9 

23    4 

59   0 

295 

S.  by  E.,  stroi^ 

10 

II 

2430 
26    9 

54  55 
51  23 

246 
216 

S.  by  E.,  all  plain  sail                 

S.  by  E. ,  var. ,  plain  sail  &  port  studding  sails 

12 

2725 

4830 

185 

E.N.E.,  moderate  . 

13 

29    7 

4524 

192 

Ei,  light 

14 
15 

170 

W.S.W.,  var. 

3023 

3829 

260 

S. ,  strong  gale  with  squalls 

THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 

Log  of  "  Thermopylae;-  j868-i86p—Cont. 
FoocHOW  TO  London. 


Date. 

Lat. 

Long. 

Dist. 

Remarks. 

Aug.  1 6 

0     i 
31  20    . 

e      / 

35   0 

19S 

E.,  light 
S.E.,  steamer  astern  like  Achilles;  sun- 

17 

3420 

33  35 

110 

set,  breeze  increasing,  leaving  her  out 
of  sight 

18 
20 

34  2 

35  6 
35    8 

2939 
24   0 

270 
240 

N.N.E.,  fresh 

S.W.  by  S.,  fresh,  strong  current  to  S.W. 

20   4 

196 

N.  E. ,  fog  and  calm  at  noon 

iS  10 

/W.S.W.,   increasing,    rounded   Cape   of 
\     Good  Hope,  heavy  sea 

21 

34  45 

100 

22 
23 

3153 
29    9 

1326 
929 

302 
262 

S.,  all  plain  sail  set 

S.S.E.,  all  plain  sail  set  and  studding  sails 

24. 

26  14 

5  19 

284 

S.E.,  all  possible  sail 

25 

23  13 

I  SO 

264 

S.E.  by  S.,  all  possible  sail 

26 

2044 

053 

212 

N.E.,  and  backing  to  S.E. 

27 

19   9 

249W 

146 

S.E.,  light 

28 

1729 

458 

158 

S.E.,  light 

29 

1536 

7  33 

187 

S.E.,  light 

30 

13  19 

10   5 

201 

S.E.,  light 

31 

II  16 

12  16 

190 

S.E.,  light 

Sept.  I 

9   6 

14   8 

164 

S.E.  by  S.,  light 

2 

7  II 

16   0 

158 

S.E.  by  S.,  light 

3 

S   9 

18     2 

172 

S.E.  by  S.,  light 

4 

3  19 

19  SI 

156 

S.E.  by  S-,  light 

I  10 

21  46 

172 

S.E.  by  S.,  light,  strong  current  to  W. 

6 

055N. 

23    4 

146 

S.E.,  light 

7 

257 

25    4 

174 

S.E.  by  S.,  light 

8 

5  51 

26    7 

184 

S  S.W.,  fresh 

9 

10   0 

27    6 

257 

S.W.,  very  squally 

10 

12  16 

27  16 

140 

S.,  light  var. 

II 

13  10 

27    0 

60 

N.N.E.,  var.,  squally 

12 

1633 

30   9 

273 

N.E.,  trade  winds 

13 

20   5 

3258 

270 

N.E.,  trade  winds 

14 

24   0 

3523 

272 

N.E.  by  E.,  trade  winds 

IS 

2645 

3615 

172 

E.  by  N.,  light 

16 

2739 

3618 

54 

E.  by  N.,  light  and  calm 

17 

28   0 

3623 

21 

E.  by  N. ,  light  and  airy 

18 

2856 

36   5 

58 

S..  light 

19 

3018 

35  45 

52 

S.,  light 

20 

3237 

35    S 

144 

S.,  light 

21 

33  45 

3418 

85 

W. ,  light  rain 

22 

36    4 

34   4 

140 

W. ,  light  breeze 

23 

3918 

3330 

200 

S.W.,  squally,  rain 

24 

4237 

3017 

245 

W.,  squally,  heavy  sea 

25 

44  10 

2616 

200 

W. ,  light  and  variable 

26 

45  14 

22  S9 

158 

S.W.  to  N.W. 

27 

46    8 

1834 

200 

W. ,  bar.  falling  rapidly 

28 

47  15 

14    0 

202 

S.W.,  bar.  falling  rapidly,  very  low 

29 

4830 

913 

200 

S.W.,  bar.  falling  rapidly,  very  low 

30 

200 

S.  by  E.,  noon.  Lizard,  N.,  8  miles 

Oct.    I 

/Beachy   Head,    E.,   20  miles  at   noon. 
\     S  P-m.,  Dungeness,  got  pilot. 

APPENDIX 

APPENDIX    E. 


Abstract  Log   of  "  Hallowe'en^-    Captain  James    Watt, 
Shanghai  to   London. 


Pate. 


1873 
ITov.  19 


23 
24 

25 

26 
27 
28 
29 

Dec.  I 


Lat. 


28  12  N. 

2635 
2332 
19  18 


i6  x^ 

1343 
II 10 
828 

629 

428 
2  0 

050] 

126 

32s 


5  9 

6  10 


6 

647 

9 
10 

8  46 

942 

"    3 
12  IS 

II 

1319 

12 

13 
14 

IS 

16 

17 
18 

19 


14 17 

IS  55 
1738 

19  13 

20  25 

21  30 

22  21 


Long:. 


Course.      Dist. 


121  soE. 
120  51 

1 18  40 

117  18 
"4  57 
"2  55 
III  II 
109  12 

107  31 

10649 
10657 
10657 
107  26 


10650 


106  4 
10540 

10458 

10434 
100  25 
98  8 
94  53 
9233 

9035 
8733 
84  S 
81  o 

77  IS 
7415 
713s 


S.  28  W, 

S.  35  W. 
S.  17  W. 
S.  36  W. 
S.  37  W 
S.  35  W. 
S.  33  W. 

S.  40  W. 

S,  19  W. 

S.  3E. 

South 

S.  13  E. 


Remarks. 


23  8   69  13 


S.  17  W. 

S.  24  W. 
S.  22  W. 

S.  48  W. 

S.  II  w. 
S.  77  W. 
S.  59  W. 
S.  69  W. 

S.  65  W. 

S.  63  W. 
S.  61  w. 
S.  63  w. 
S.  62  w. 
S.  71  w. 
S.  69  w. 
S.  71  W. 

S.  70  w. 


no 

21s 
266 
22s 
193 
176 
192 

120 

121 

148 

70 

134 


124 


114 

66 

56 
121 

158 
205 

151 
129 
201 
225 
200 
224 
180 
157 


139 


p.m.,  passed  the  lightship, 
fresh  northerly  breeze.  3, 30 
p.m.,  oflF  North  Saddle 

/Mod.  northerly breeie.     P.M., 

\     light  winds 

f  North-easterly,  light.  P.M.,in- 

l.     creasing 

/North -easterly,    smart    steady 

\     breezes 

Fresh  N.E.  monsoon 

-North-easterly,  steady  and  fine 

North-easterly,  moderate  and  fine 

North-easterly,  moderateandfine 

North-easterly,  moderateandfine 

("Variable,  E.  toS.E.  unsteady, 

\     squally 

Easterly,  light  and  showery 

Van,  northerly  to  S.E. 

Var.  and  calms,  thick  rain 
/  Fresh  westerly  &  north- westerly. 
I     P.M.,  mod.  ' 

p.W.  to  S.W.  2.30  a.m., 
I  anchored  off  ent.  Macclesfield 
j  Channel.  9  a.m.,  got  under- 
l     weigh. 

(Var., westerly andsqually.  5.30 
\     p.m.,  anchored  off  North  Isl. 

3  a.m.,  got  underweigh.  Wind 
I.     mod.  W.N.W.  to  W.S.W. 
rVar.,    W.N.W.    to    W.S.W. 
\     Noon,  1 5  miles  W.  of  Java  Hd, 
Unsteady  southerly  wind 
Smart  steady  breezes,  S.  by  E. 
S.S.E,,  mod.  and  fine 
S.S.E.,mod.  &fine.  P.M.,  light 

{South-easterly,    light     winds. 
P.M.,  unsteady 
S.S.E.  to  E.,  light  winds 
S.E.  by  S.,  fine  steady  breezes 
South-easterly,  fine  steady  breezes 
East.     Mod.  trade  and  fine 
East.     Mod.  trade  and  fine. 
E.  to  S.E.     Mod.  and  unsteady 
E.  toE.N.E.,  light  winds 
/-E.N.E.  to  N.E.  and  N.N.E., 
light  winds.      Heavy  S.W. 
*■     swell 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 


Abstract  Log  of  "Hallowe'en" — Cont. 
Shanghai  to  London. 


Date. 


1873 
Dec.  20 

21 
22 
23 


Lit. 


24 

25 
26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

1874 
Jan.    I 

2 

3 


5 

6 

7 
8 

9 

10 
II 
12 

13 

14 


24  o 
2438 

25  43 

26  27 

27  13 

28  24 

29  21 

3029 
3158 
3254 
3324 

3432 

35  32 
3456 
34  54 

3517 

3238 

2938 

2732 

2559 

24    6 

22  6 
20  12 
18    6 

16    6 

1434 


S. 


Long. 


66  30  E 

62  16 

5821 

55  51 

53  41 
49  49 
4650 

4053 
35  52 
3232 
2924 

2630 

2535 
24  24 

23    9 

1948 

15  13 

II  19 
821 
630 

424 

2  2E. 
o  9W. 
244 

5  10 

7  20 


Course. 


S.  71  w 
S.  81  w, 
S.  73  W. 
S.  72  W. 

S.  69  W. 
S.  71  W. 
S.  70  W. 

S.  78  W. 

S.  71  w. 

S.  71  w. 

S.  79  W. 

S.  65  W. 

S.  37  W. 
N.  s8W. 
N.  88  W. 

S.  82  W. 

N.  SS  W. 

N.  48  W. 
N.  SI  W. 
N.  47  W. 

N.  45  W. 

N.  47  W. 
N.  47  W. 
N.  49  W. 

N.49W. 

N.S4W. 


Dist. 


235 
223 
142 

126 
217 
167 

326 
273 
179 
162 


159 

75 
69 
60 

166 

279 

270 
202 
136 
160 

178 
167 
194 
i8s 
154 


rN.W.   to  N.N  W.  fresh.      11 
157  I     a.m.,  shift  to  S.W.      P.M., 
>.     blowing  hard 

{Southerly,  strong  and  sqnally. 
Heavy  head  sea 
{S.  to  S.E.,  strong  steady  breeze. 
P.  M. ,  moderate  and  unsteady 
/Easterly to  E.N.E.  Light  winds 
\     and  fine 

fE.N.E.  to  N.E.  Light  winds 
V  and  fine 
N.  E.  smart  breeze 
fN.E.  mod.  4  a.m.  to  II,  light 
L  to  calm.  II a.m., fresh  S.S.E. 
fS.S.E.  to  E.S.E.  strong  and 
{     squally,  nasty  cross  sea 

(Easterly  fresh  breeze  and  smooth 
water 
/Easterly  to  N.E.  by  E.     Mod. 
\     breeze.     P.  M. ,  light  and  fine 
N.E.  to  S.W.     4  a.m.,  shift  of 
wind,  light,  but  heavy  head  sea 
Var.,  southerly  and   westerly, 
mod.  and  unsteady.    3  p.m., 
commenced  to  blow.    8  p.  m. , 
fresh  gale 


{North-westerly.    Blowing  hard, 
gusty,  heavy  confused  sea 
/North-westerly.      Fresh  breeze 
\     and  heavy  confused  sea 
N.  W.  to  S.  E. ,  light.      7  a.  m. , 

increasing,  heavy  S.  W.  sea 
S.E.,   mod.   and   hazy,   heavy 
•|     head  sea.    P.M.,  8-12,  strong 
'■     breeze 

/S.E.  to  S.,  strong,  all  sail  and 
\     all  studding  sails  set 

(South  to  S.S.E.,  mod.,  smooth 
water.     Going  13-14  knots 
South  to  S.S.E.,  mod.  and  fine 
/Variable,  S. S.E.  to  S.W.  Light 
\     winds  and  fine 
/S-S.E.,  light  winds  and  fine. 
\     P.M.,  moderate 
S.S.E.,  moderate  winds  and  fine 
S.S.E.,  moderate  winds  and  fine 
S.S.E.,  fine  steady  trades 
/S.S.E.,    moderate    trades.      5 
L     p.m.,  signalled  St.  Helena 
S.  S.  E. ,  moderate  trades 


APPENDIX. 

Abstract  Log  of  "Halloween" — Cont. 
Shanghai  to  London. 


ziii 


Date. 

Idt. 

Long. 

Course. 

Dist. 

Remarks. 

1874 

•    / 

0     / 

Jan. IS 

12  28  S. 

923W. 

N.  43W. 

173 

S.E.  by  S.  to  S.E.  mod.  and  fine 

16 

1033 

II     9 

N.  42W. 

155 

S.S.E.,  moderate  and  fine 

17 

83s 

12  46 

N.  39  W. 

152 

rS.E.  by  S.  to  S.  by  E.,  mod. 
\     and  fine 

18 

633 

1438 

N.  42W. 

166 

fS.E.  by  S.  to  S.  by  E.,  mod. 
and  fine 

19 

428 

1638 

N.  44W. 

165 

S.S.E.,  moderate  and  fine 

20 

238 

18  41 

N.  48W. 

165 

S.S.E.,   mod.     northerly   swell 

/S.  by  E.  and  S.S.E.  Fine 
L     Steady  breezes 

21 

0  18  s. 

2040 

N.  40  W. 

185 

22 

226N. 

21  14 

N.  12  W. 

168 

/South toS.  E. ,  unsteady.  Heavy 
\     northerly  swell 
/S.E.    light,  unsteady.      P.M., 
\     light  airs  and  sultry 

23 

4  10 

21  16 

N.    I W. 

104 

24 

s  13 

21   18 

N.    2W. 

63 

/Easterly  &  north-easterly,  light 
L     airs  and  calms 

25 

6  20 

2234 

N.  48W. 

102 

N.N.E.  to  N.E.,  moderate 
'N.E.   by  N.    to   N.E.,  smart 
^     steady  breezes 

26 

820 

2513 

N.  S3W. 

199 

'N.E.  to  N.E.  by  E.  Fine 
^     steady  trades 

27 

II  II 

2724 

N.  37W. 

214 

/N.E.  to  N.E.  by  E.  Fine 
■  ^     steady  trades 

28 

1400 

2948 

N.  40  W. 

220 

/N.E.  to  E.N.E.  and  N.N.E., 
\     light  steady  breeze 

29 

1636 

3156 

N.  38  W. 

198 

/■Var.  N.  by  E.  to  east,  very 
\  unsettled  winds  in  force  and 
^     direction 

30 

19    3 

33  18 

N.  28  W. 

166 

31 

21    2 

33  45 

N.  13  W. 

122 

Easterly.  Light  variable  winds 
/Easterly  to  south.  Calms  and 
\     light  variable  winds 

Feb.  I 

2244 

34    6 

N.  II W. 

104 

/Southerly,  east  to  N. E.  Calms 
(^     and  variable.     Heavy  rain 

2 

2346 

3431 

N.  20  W. 

66 

/N.E.  to  N.N.E.,  calms  and 
i     light  unsteady.     P.M.,  mod. 

3 

24  S9 

35  45 

N.  43W. 

100 

rN.  to  N.N.W.  and  N.N.E., 
\  unsteady,  moderate.  P.M., 
I    fresh  and  squally 

4 

2628 

34  44 

N.  32  E. 

105 

rN.N.E.,  N.E.  by  N.,  fresh. 
\  P.  M. ,  light  and  heavy  N.  W. 
I    swell 

S 

27  16 

32    2 

N.  12  E. 

152 

/Var.  east  to  south,  light  airs. 
\     P.M.,  increasing 

6 

2736 

3144 

N.  39  E. 

26 

fS.W.  to  S.S.W.,  fine  steady 
\  breeze.  P.  M. ,  moderate  and 
l     heavy  N.W.  swell 

7 

3030 

3055 

N.  14  E. 

179 

/N.W.  to  west  and  S.W.,  light 
\     and  unsteady.     P.M.,  mod. 

8 

3228 

2950 

N.  25  E. 

130 

fS.W.  toW.S.W.  Fresh  breeze 
\     and  thick 

9 

3525 

2747 

N.  30  E. 

204 

cc 


xir 


THE    CHINA    CLIPPERS 


Abstract  Log  of  "Hallowe'en'' — Cont. 
Shanghai  to  London. 


Date. 


1874 
Feb.  10 


16 


17 


Lat. 


385SN, 
4148 

44  4 

45  47 
48  21 

5°   9 


Long. 


26  19W. 
22     5 

18  27 

14  6 
SS3 
338 


Course. 


N.  i8  E. 

N.  48  E. 

N.  49  E. 
N.  61  E. 
N.  54  E. 
N.  62  E. 


Dist. 


Bemarka. 


262 

210 
211 
264 
233 


{Westerly  and  N.W.  Fresh 
breeze  and  squally.  P.M., 
strong 
rN.W.  west.  A.M.,  blowing 
■j  strong  and  squally.  P.M., 
'^     moderate 

/West  to  S.W.  to  N.W.     Mod. 
\     to  fresh,  increasing 
("N.W.    to   west  and    W.S.W. 
\     Fresh  breezes  and  hazy 
W.S.W.  to  W.  by  S.     Strong 
breeze  and  squally 
rW.S.W.  to  S.W.     Fresh  and 
\     squally 

^At  8.30  a.m.,  got  the  pilot  on 
board.  11.30  a.m.,  passed 
through  the  Downs.  Noon, 
off  the  North  Foreland.  1.30 
p.m.,  taken  in  tow  near  the 
Tongue  Lightship.  Blowing 
hard  from  S.W.  2  p.m., 
wind  west.  8  p.m.,  brought 
up  at  the  Chapman 
/-Arrived  at  Gravesend.  Blowing 
■j  hard  from  S.W.,  and  thick 
"^     rain 


APPENDIX 

APPENDIX    F. 


Complete  List  of  "  TAermopylae's "    Outward  and  Homeward 

Passages  under  the  Aberdeen   White  Star  House  Flag, 

1868-1890. 


Yew. 

Captain. 

Left. 

On 

Arrived. 

On 

Days 
Out 

1868-69 

Kemball 

London 

Nov.    7 

Melbourne 

Jan.      9 

63 

1869 

jj 

Foochow 

July     3 

London 

Oct.      I 

90 

1869-70 

l» 

London 

Nov.  10 

Melbourne 

Jan.    25 

76 

1870 

)» 

Foochow 

July   29 

London 

:*Jov.  12 

106 

1870-71 

*> 

London 

Dec.  27 

Melbourne 

Mar.    2 

65 

1871 

>» 

Shanghai 

June  22 

London 

Oct.     6 

106 

1871-72 

)) 

London 

Nov.  II 

Melbourne 

Tan.    23 

73 

1872 

»} 

Shanghai 

une  18 

London 

Oct.    II 

"5 

1872-73 

»» 

London 

A^ov.  13 

Melbourne 

Jan.    27 

75 

1873 

>> 

Shanghai 

July    II 

London 

Oct.   20 

lOI 

1873-74 

») 

London 

Dec.     2 

Melbourne 

Feb.   17 

77 

1874 

)} 

Shanghai 

July    18 

London 

Oct.   27 

lOI 

1874-75 

Matbeson 

London 

Nov.  28 

Melbourne 

Feb.     6 

70 

1875 

)j 

Foochow 

July     8 

London 

Oct.   31 

I'S 

1875-76 

J) 

London 

:!ifov.  29 

Melbourne 

Feb.     9 

72 

1876 

>} 

Foochow 

July   29 

Scillies 

Nov.  21 

"5 

1876-77 

„ 

London 

Dec.  19 

Melbourne 

Mar.  14 

85 

1877 

)i 

Shanghai 

July     8 

London 

Oct.   20 

104 

1877-78 

j» 

London 

Dec.     3 

Melbourne 

Feb.   17 

76 

1878-79 

»» 

Shanghai 

Nov.  27 

London 

Mar.  17 

no 

l^^% 

j» 

London 

June    2 

Sydney 

Sept.    3 

93 

1879-80 

)> 

Sydney 

Nov.  18 

London 

Feb.     7 

81 

z88o 

j» 

London 

May  21 

Sydney 

Aug.  II 

82 

1880-81 

>» 

Sydney 

Oct.   14 

London 

Jan.    12 

88 

1881 

Henderson 

London 

Mar.  10 

Sydney 

June    6 

90 

1881-82 

*) 

Foochow 

Oct.    30 

London 

Feb.   15 

107 

1882 

Lizard  Light 

Mar.  21 

Sydney 

June     2 

73 

1882 

,, 

Sydney 

Oct.    14 

London 

Dec.  29 

77 

1883 

)i 

London 

Jan.    21 

Sydney 

May    9 

109 

1883-84 

)j 

Sydney 

Oct.   31 

London 

Jan.    26 

87 

1884 

AUan 

London 

Feb.  25 

Sydney 

May  18 

82 

1884 

»» 

Sydney 

Oct.     6 

Prawle  Point 

Dec.  23 

78 

1885 

)> 

London 

Jan.    19 

Melbourne 

April   8 

79 

1885-86 

}i 

Sydney 

Oct.    18 

London 

Jan.      6 

80 

1886 

ij 

London 

Feb.  16 

Sydney 

May  20 

93 

1886-87 

J) 

Sydney 

Oct.   24 

London 

Jan.    19 

87 

1887 

3» 

London 

May  II 

Sydney 

July   25 

75 

1887-88 

>I 

Sydney 

Oct.    16 

London 

Jan.      3 

79 

1888 

Jenkins 

London 

Feb.  16 

Sydney 

May     7 

80 

1888 

>» 

Sydney 

June    9 

The  Lizard* 

Sept.  22 

105 

1888-89 

j» 

London 

Oct.   30 

Sydney 

Jan.    29 

91 

1889 

)i 

Sydney 

Mar.  26 

London 

June  29 

95 

1889 

;) 

London 

Aug.  10 

Sydney 

Nov.     1 

!3 

1890 

JS 

Sydney 

Jan.     9 

Deal* 

April    8 

89 

•For  Rotterdam. 


THE  CHINA  CLIPPERS 


APPENDIX   G. 


Complete  List  of  "  Cutty  Sark's "   Australian  Passages. 


Tear. 

Captain. 

Left. 

On 

Arrived. 

On 

Days 
Out. 

1872-73 

Moore 

London 

Nov.  25 

Melbourne 

Feb.  11 

78 

1873-74 

Tiptaft 

Off  Portland 

Dec.  13 

Sydney 

Mar.    3 

80 

1874-75 

»* 

London 

Nov.  21 

If 

Feb.    3 

74 

1875-76 

)» 

J) 

Nov.  20 

Feb.    3 

75 

1876-77 

)J 

»» 

Oct.  21 

j> 

Jan.    13 

84 

1877-78 

)J 

1* 

Dec.  12 

jj 

Feb.  18 

68 

1883-84 

Moore 

N'castle.N.s.w. 

Dec.  28 

OffBeachyHd. 

Mar.  20 

82 

1884 

j» 

London 

June    8 

N'castle,N.s.w. 

Sept.    6 

90 

1884-85 

n 

N'castle,N.s.w. 

Dec.    9 

London 

Feb.  27 

80 

1885 

Woodget 

Off  the  Start 

April  3 

Sydney 

June  20 

78 

1885 

ii 

Sydney 

Oct.  17 

Off  the  Lizard 

Dec.  23 

67 

1887 

a 

Sydney 

Mar.  26 

OffS.  Cath'rin's 

June    6 

72 

1887 

*> 

London 

Aug.  19 

N'castle,N.s.w. 

Nov.  15 

88 

1887-88 

it 

Sydney 

Dec.  28 

Off  Brighton  | 

1  p.m. 
Mar.    8 

y 

1888 

>» 

London 

May  20 

Sydney 

Aug.    5 

77 

1888-89 

>» 

Sydney 

Oct.  26 

London 

Jan.   20 

86 

1889 

»» 

London 

May     8 

Sydney 

July   26 

79 

1889-90 

J» 

Sydney 

Nov.    2 

London 

Jan.    17 

76 

1890 

s» 

Off  the  Lizard 

May  21 

Sydney 

Aug.    4 

75 

1890-91 

»» 

Sydney 

Dec.  13 

London 

Mar.  17 

94 

1891 

a 

London 

April  25 

Sydney 

July    14 

80 

1891-92 

>i 

Sydney 

Nov.    5 

London 

Jan.    28 

84 

1892 

,, 

London 

Aug.  12 

N'castle,N.s.w. 

Nov.    9 

89 

1893 

,, 

Sydney 

Jan.     7 

OffS.  Cath'rin's 

April  II 

94 

1893 

>» 

Off  the  Lizard 

Aug.    8 

Sydney 

Oct.  29 

82 

1893-94 

s> 

Sydney 

Dec.  24 

Hull 

Mar.  28 

94 

1894 

»» 

Off  Portland 

June  27 

Brisbane 

Sept.  IS 

80 

1894-95 

Brisbane 

Dec.  30 

London 

Mar.  26 

86 

APPENDIX 


APPENDIX  H. 


Abstract  Log  of  ^^  Ariel"  Captain  Keay,  Foochow  to  London,  1866. 
(From  Captain  JCeay's  private  Journal.) 


Tuesdayf  29th  May,  1866. — S  a.m.,  hove  up  and  5.30  proceeded,  towing 
alongside  down  the  river.  8.30,  nearing  Sharp  Rock  ;  discharged  China  pilot. 
9,  tried  to  get  steamer  ahead  to  tow  but  very  soon  she  sheered  wide  to  port, 
could  not  recover  conmiand  of  the  helm  and  obliged  us  to  anchor.  Again 
tried  to  tow  alongside  and  proceeded  outside  the  wreck  of  Childers,  but  were 
damaging  steamer's  sponsons  and  our  side  so  much  that  we  had  to  cast  off  and 
pilot  would  not  risk  going  on  as  steamer  could  not  be  relied  upon  to  get  ahead 
in  time,  tide  already  having  fallen,  therefore  anchored  in  hopes  of  getting  on 
to-night.  The  piery  Cross  towed  past  us  and  went  to  sea  all  safe  drawing  less 
water.  We  are  now  forward  18  feet  8  inches  and  aft  18  feet  3  inches,  out  of 
trim  but  hope  to  have  her  right  soon.  8  to  10  p.m.,  had  the  night  been  clear 
would  have  gone  to  sea  but  showery  thick  weather,  pilot  would  not  venture. 
Wind  N.E.  moderate. 

Wednesday,  SOth  May,  1866. — 5  a.m.,  turned  to  and  brought  aft  to 
abreast  mizen  mast  30  fathom  of  each  bower  chain  and  the  stream  chain,  also 
gin  chains  and  12  casks  of  salt  provisions ;  lashed  alongside  the  after-boats ; 
stowed  all  the  studding-sail  gear  between  said  boats  in  the  gratings  and  passed 
the  holystones  aft  out  of  lower  forecastle  to  trim  ship  more  by  the  stern. 
8.30  a.m.,  hove  short  and  got  the  steamer  ahead,  towropes  fast  one  from  each 
bow  to  his  quarters.  9  a.m.,  weighed  and  proceeded  under  tow ;  the  Taeping 
and  Serica  following  us.  10.30  a.m.,  were  well  outside  the  Outer  Knoll,  cast 
off  the  tug  and  hove  to  for  his  boat  to  fetch  away  our  pilot,  Smidt,  They 
lowered  the  boat,  the  steamer  going  ahead,  she  filled,  men  were  saved  but  they 
were  so  long  picking  up  the  men  and  boat  that  we  signalled  for  a  pilot  boat 
to  take  away  our  pilot  At  11. 10  a.m.,  filled  the  mainyard  and  steered  S.  by 
E.  J°  E.  for  Turnabout  Island.  Made  sail  and  set  fore-topmast  and  lower 
stunsail  and  skysail.  Rain  and  moderate  N.E.  wind.  We  left  Taeping  and 
Serica  a  little.  Noon,  S.E.  point  of  White  Dogs  E.N.E.  about  6  miles. 
I  p.m.,  Warning  Rocks  W.  by  S.  3  miles.  3  p.m..  South  Point  of  Turnabout 
Island  N.W.  2  miles.  Set  fore-topgallant  stunsail.  Same  wind  and  weather. 
Thursday,  31st  May,  1866.— Same  wind  and  weather.  Noon,  S.E. 
of  Brothers  bore  N.W.  by  N.  6  miles.  Lat.  23°  27'  N.,  long.  117°  4S'  E. 
Distance  190  miles.  3  p.m.,  saw  Lamock  Islands  on  starboard  quarter. 
Watch  putting  on  chafing  gear. 


xviu  THE  CHINA  CLIPPERS 

Friday,  1st  June,  1866. — Cloudy  with  showers  and  moderate  N.E.  wind. 
A.M.,  stowed  23  half-chests  and  16  chests  of  tea  in  after  cabin  in  locker-heads. 
Noon,  lat.  21°  10'  N.,  long.  115°  9'  E.  Distance  195  miles.  Experienced  no 
current  against  us.  P.M.,  carpenter  secured  tea  in  cabin  with  stanchions,  etc. 
Took  three  doors  off  their  hinges  to  faciUtate  stowing  hawsers  and  lines,  etc., 
in  my  cabin  and  in  starboard  passage  to  get  ship  more  in  trim.  6.30  p.m., 
altered  course  more  southerly  to  bring  wind  two  points  on  the  quarter  for  speed. 

Saturday,  2nd  June,  1866. — Wind  moderate  from  N.E.  and  clear. 
5  a.m.,  wind  from  N.N.W.,  altered  course  to  S.W.  and  brought  wind  on  port 
quarter,  partly  for  speed  and  determined  to  go  west  of  Paracels.  Taeping  in 
sight  to  S.E.  by  E,  Watch  employed  putting  30  fathoms  of  each  cable  below 
in  sail  cabin  and  first  coiled  the  Europe  hawsers  in  my  cabin,  also  put  nine 
casks  of  pork  in  after  store-room  and  lashed  seven  of  beef  on  main  hatch,  only 
leaving  two  of  beef  in  lower  forecastle.  Ship  seems  to  steer  very  easy  and  is 
probably  almost  in  trim.  Noon,  lat  17°  S'' N.,  long.  112*  57' E.  Distance 
240  miles.  P.M.,  wind  getting  very  light  and  veering  between  N.,  N.E. 
and  S.  E.     Setting  and  taking  in  stunsails  and  trimming  sails  as  required, 

Sunday,  3rd  June,  1866. — Light  airs  and  calm,  sky  overcast  at  times, 
steering  along  north  of  Paracels.  Noon,  lat.  17°  14' N.,  111°  32' E.  Distance 
83  miles.  I  p.m.,  from  alofl  saw  north  shoal  of  Paracels  bearing  south  about 
8  miles  distant  appearing  in  long  patches  of  breakers  with  black  rocks  showing 
a  little  above  water,  very  faint  baffling  airs,  steered  west  to  get  clear  of  the 
shoal.     4  p.m.,  still  bearing  between  S.  -J°  W.  and  S.S.E. 

Monday,  4th  June,  1866. — Watch  putting  on  chafing  gear,  drying 
awnings,  towing  warps,  etc.  Vyse  making  the  stunsail  bonnets.  Carpenter 
making  a  main  topgallant  mast ;  first-rate  spar  bought  from  Robertson  of 
Pagoda  Anchorage.  Found  ship  was  fully  6  inches  by  the  stem,  therefore 
shifted  spars  forward  to  their  proper  place  to  make  the  decks  more  clear. 
This  seemed  to  alter  the  trim  again  so  that  ship  is  about  4  inches  by 
the  stern,  viz.,  18  feet  5  inches  aft  and  18  feet  I  inch  forward.  Noon  lat. 
i6'  55'  N.,  long.  110°  21'  E.  Distance  172  miles.  P.M.,  calm  and  baffling 
airs.     5  p.m.,  light  wind  from  S.E. 

Tuesday,  Sth  June,  1866. — Same  wind  and  clear  with  much  lightning  on 
western  horizon.  9  a.m.,  Pulo  Canton  in  sight  W.  i°  S.  15  miles.  Hawsers 
again  up  to  dry,  having  been  thoroughly  soaked.  Sent  down  royal  stunsail 
booms  and  gear  to  be  snug  aloft  for  beating.  Watch  lacing  the  foot  of  upper 
topsails  to  the  jackstays  of  lower  topsail  yards.  Scraped  and  oiled  the  bower 
anchors  and  chains  outside  the  house  to  lessen  rust ;  opened  the  quarter-hatch 
to  ventilate  the  hold  better  while  weather  is  fine.  Noon,  lat.  15°  18'  W., 
long.  109°  23'  E.  Distance  117  miles.  P.M.,  light  wind  from  S.  by  E.  to 
S.S.W.  ;  tacking  as  necessary;  keeping  inshore  in  hope  of  land  breeze  at 
night.  Midnight,  fresh  breeze  came  off  from  S.W.,  tacked  to  S.S.E.  Land  of 
Cochin  China  about  4  miles  distant. 

Wednesday,  6th  June,  1S66. — Light  southerly  winds,  almost  calm 
occasionally.  Painted  the  rails  over  brass  work  to  save  polishing  on  the 
passage ;  also  painted  outside  where  bare  with  chafe  of  fenders  and  cargo 


APPENDIX  zix 

boats,  etc.  Putting  on  and  refitting  chafing  gear.  Carpenter  finished  top- 
gallant-mast, coated  it  thick  with  pine  oil ;  is  making  a  topmast  studdingsail- 
yard  for  enlarged  foretopmast  stunsail.  Noon,  lat.  13°  24*  N.,  long.  109° 
58'  E.  Distance  122  miles.  Light  airs  from  southard,  stood  in  towards  shore 
in  hopes  of  land  wind  ;  tried  to  tack,  too  little  way,  wore  round  to  S.E.,  faint 
airs  from  S.  to  S.W.  and  calms  ;  not  steering.     Midnight,  the  same  weather. 

Thursday,  7th  June,  1866.— 2  a.m.,  a  faint  air  from  S.W.  ;  began  to 
steer;  current  fevourable.  Noon,  lat.  12°  21'  N.,  long.  109°  28'  E.  Distance 
72  miles.     Try  the  pumps  every  evening  about  7.      Get  very  little  water  out. 

4  a.m.,  moderate  S.S.W.  virind,  tacked  to  westward.  7.45  a.m.,  about  8 
miles  off  shore  near  Fisher's  Island.  Wind  came  more  off  the  land  ;  tacked  to 
S.  by  E.  II  p.m.,  a  small^vessel  ran  nearly  into  us.  Midnight,  wind  in 
strong  gusts ;  took  in  small  sails. 

Friday,  8th  June,  1866.— Moderate  and  steady  S.W.  monsoon; 
tolerably  clear.  Watch  employed  about  rigging;  carpenter  making  bowline 
bulls'  eyes.  Noon,  lat.  9°  55'  N.,  long.  110°  4'  E.  Distance  150  miles. 
Made  I J  points  leeward  off  course  and  12'  less  southing  than  by  dead  reckoning. 
Set  to  leeward  say  I J  knots;  36  miles  N.E.  per  day  from  8  p.m.  of  7th  to 
noon  of  8th;  steered  to  pass  east  of  Prince  of  Wales  bank.  6  to  8  a.m., 
passed  two  ships  running.  5  to  10  p.m.,  showery  and  wind  from  S.S.W. 
to  W.S.W.  moderate. 

Saturday,  9th  June,  1866. — Same  wind.      No  bottom  at  16  fathoms  at 

5  a.m.  Noon,  lat.  7'  22'  N.,  long.  110°  27'  E.  Distance  155  miles.  Found 
there  had  been  no  current.  Dead  reckoning  and  observations  agree  to  a  mile  ; 
hence  passed  some  10  miles  to  windward  instead  of  to  leeward  of  aforesaid 
bank,  probably  the  N.E.  current  is  not  wide,  Watch  variously  employed 
about  rigging.  Carpenter  rough-making  two  topmast  studdingsail  booms  of 
two  Foochow  pines,  an  inch  or  more  in  diameter.  5  p.m.,  signalised  the 
Taeping  about  3  miles  to  leeward  standing  west.  6  p.m.,  she  tacked  and 
followed  in  our  wake.     Light  S.W.  wind  and  clear. 

Sunday,  10th  June,  1866. — Same  weather.  6  a.m.,  7<i(r/i>y  about  4 
miles  on  our  lee  quarter.  Signalised  that  they  had  passed  the  Fiery  Cross  on 
Friday.  We  are  thus  in  all  probability  the  headmost  ship  so  far.  Noon, 
lat.  s°  14'  N.,  long.  111°  20'  E.  Distance  142  miles.  P.M.,  light  wind  from 
S.W.  by  S.  and  clear  warm  weather ;  no  current. 

Monday,  11th  June,  1866.— Employed  stripping  and  reserving  servict 
of  lower  and  topmast  rigging  where  needed.  Noon,  lat.  4°  11'  N.,  long,  iii" 
47'  E.  Distance  69  miles.  P.M.,  very  faint  airs  baffling  about;  trimming 
yards,  etc.     Midnight,  light  air  from  westward. 

Tuesday,  12th  June,  1866.— 1.4S  a-m.,  a  cloud  rose  rapidly  from 
W.N.W.,  strong  breeze  and  little  or  no  rain.  In  all  staysails;  clewed  up 
royals  and  down  flying  jib.  2  a.m.,  moderate;  set  all  sail  again.  Sky 
clearing  and  wind  gradually  hauling  after  4  a.m.  to  S.W.  and  S.  6.30  a.m., 
rain  and  moderate  S.S.E.  wind ;  tacked  to  S.W.  Rain  gradually  thinned  off 
and  at  noon  clear  weather  and  light  S.E.  wind ;  port  stunsails  set  forward. 
Lat.  3°  l6'  N.,   long,   ill*  20'  E.      Distance   54  miles.      A  three-masted 


sx  THE  CHINA  CLIPPERS 

schooner  on  starboard  bow.  4  p.m.,  abeam.  5  p.m.,  calm  and  faint  airs 
from  N.  E.  ;  clear  warm  weather.  Carpenter  making  a  box  of  3-inch  deals 
12  feet  by  3i  by  2  to  hold  spare  kedges,  anchor  stocks,  yard-hoops,  etc.,  and 
fill  it  up  with  coal  from  coal  locker  in  forepeak  to  lighten  her  there,  as  ship  is 
only  2  inches  by  the  stern  since  the  spars  were  put  in  their  places  again. 
Present  draft  18  feet  3  inches  aft  and  18  feet  I  inch  forward.  Will  use  said 
box  also  to  trim  to  windward. 

Wednesday,  13th  June,  1866. — Calms  and  baffling  airs.  Watch 
trimming  yards,  setting  and  taking  in  stunsails,  etc.  Noon,  lat.  3°  9'  N., 
long.  111°  6'  E.  Distance  23  miles.  P.M.,  same  schooner  in  company. 
Light  variable  S.W.  and  W.  winds  backing  to  S.W.  and  becoming  squally 
towards  midnight.     Midnight,  tacked  to  N.W. 

Thursday,  14th  June,  1866. — Wind  veering  with  very  threatening  sky, 
squalls,  lightning  and  rain.  All  small  sails  in,  and  fore  and  mizen  topgallant 
sails,  also  main  for  a  short  time.  Towards  daylight  more  settled  wind  S.W. 
with  showers  and  squalls.  Set  fore  and  mizen  topgallant  sails.  Main  royal 
and  flying  jib  set  and  taken  in  as  necessary.  Noon,  lat.  2°  16'  N.,  long,  (by 
account)  110°  42'  E.  Distance  66  miles.  P.M.,  clearing  gradually.  Po 
Point  and  Tanjong  Sipang  on  port  beam  and  Cape  Datu  about  S.W.  by  W. 
Moderate  and  wind  hauling  to  S.S.W.  and  S.  off  the  land.  Set  all  small  sails 
and  fore-topmast  and  topgallant  stunsails.  Midnight,  Cape  Datu  bore  south 
about  5  miles  distant.    Light  breeze  from  S.  S.  E.  suddenly  failed ;  weather  clear. 

Friday,  15th  June,  1866. — 1  a.m.,  faint  air  from  westward.  Got 
trimmed  on  the  port  tack  and  steering  about  2  a.m.  3  a.m.,  nearly  calm. 
3.30  a.m.,  faint  air  from  S.S.E.  ;  S.S.E.  airs,  calms  and  baffling  till  2  p.m. 
Noon,  lat.  2°  4'  N.,  long.  109°  22'  E.  Distance  80  miles.  P.M.,  clear 
weather,  smooth  sea,  light  breeze  springing  up  from  W.S.W.  4  p.m.,  tacked 
to  southward.  Marundum  bearing  west  5  or  6  miles.  6  p.m.,  tacked  to 
W.N.W.  9  p.m..  tacked  to  S.S.E.  11  p.m.,  caught  aback  with  moderate 
S.E.  wind,  braced  round  on  port  tack.  Midnight,  all  sail  set ;  heading  S.W. 
by  S.  ;  clear  weather. 

Saturday,  16th  June,  1866.— Same  weather.  Watch  employed  about 
the  rigging.  Carpenter  making  a  grating  for  forepart  of  galley  door.  Had 
the  box  finished  and  stowed  small  anchors,  etc.,  in  it  and  over  I  ton  of  coal 
lashed  and  chocked  before  the  quarter  hatch.  Noon,  Tambelan  in  sight  west ; 
tacked  to  E.  by  S.,  wind  S.S.E.,  moderate  and  clear.  Lat.  1°  i'  N., 
long.  108°  i'  E.  Distance  102  miles.  P.M.,  Boerang  Islands  in  sight  to  S.E. 
Had  life-buoys  covered  with  duck  and  twelve  brass  hooped  buckets  also,  fancy 
plate  on  handles  and  knots,  and  painted  handles  and  inside  of  buckets,  outside 
kept  bright.  7,  tacked  off-shore.  9,  tacked  in-shore.  11,  got  wind  off  the 
land,  very  light,  tacked  to  southward. 

Sunday,  17th  June,  1866. — Fine  clear  weather  and  south-easterly  wind, 
moderate  and  light.  9  a.m.,  Datu  Island  N.E.  |°  N.  about  20  miles.  Noon, 
lat.  0°  28'  S.,  long.  108°  15'  E.  Distance  loi  miles.  6  p.m.,  tacked  to 
eastward.     11  p.m.,  tacked  to  S.S.W. 

Monday,    18th    June,    1866. — Same    wind    and    weather.      9    a.m., 


APPENDIX  zzi 

BilUter  Island  in  sight  ahead,  ii  a.m.,  abreast  of  N.W.  Island  ij  miles 
distant.  Dutch  ship  Willtin  in  company,  bound  to  Batavia,  promised  to 
report  us  at  Lloyd's.  Passed  her  2  miles  to  her  i.  Noon,  lat.  2°  37'  S., 
long.  107*  29'  E.  Distance  133  miles.  From  3.30  p.m.  to  7  p.m.,  beat 
through  east  of  north  and  Table  Island,  then  steered  to  south-westward  between 
Vansittart  Shoal  and  Embelton  Island  and  shoals.  10.15  p.m.,  had  passed  to 
leeward  of  Fairlee  Rock,  probably  6  miles  distant.  Hauled  up  S.  by  W., 
wind  moderate  from  south-eastward. 

Tuesday,  19th  June,  1866. — Same  wind  and  fine  clear  weather. 
Numbers  of  ships  seen  these  three  days  past.  11.30  a.m.,  passed  dose  to 
westward  of  North  Watcher  Island  and  wind  fell  very  light.  Noon, 
lat.  5°  15'  S.,  long.  106°  36'  E.  Distance  164  miles.  P.M.,  faint  airs  from 
eastward.  Watch  still  at  work  stripping  and  reserving  lower  and  topmast 
ri^ng.     Midnight,  light  wind  ftom  E.  to  S.E.  and  clear. 

Wednesday,  20th  June,  1866. — I  a.m.,  approaching  Cape  St.  Nicholas. 

10  miles  distant  bearing  south,  1.30  a.m.,  light  S.  by  E.  wind,  tacked  to 
eastward.  Current  since  noon  of  19th  has  been  setting  about  li  knots  to 
N.,  N.W.  and  westward.  3  a.m.,  light  air  again  from  E.S.E.,  tacked  to 
southward ;  freshened  a  little  and  weathered  the  Button  by  about  a  mile. 
About  5.30  a.m.,  all  staysails  and  fore-topmast  and  topgallant  stunsails  set 
and  Jamie  Green.  Yards  sharp  up  ;  wind  freeing  a  little  as  we  neared  Anjer. 
At  7  a.m.,  hoisted  our  number,  etc.,  also  sent  our  report,  21  days  from 
Foochow,  ashore  and  letter  for  owners  (one  dollar  for  postage  to  master 
attendant),  bought  fruit,  fowls,  etc.  Faint  baffling  airs  from  north-eastward 
and  calms.  Current  setting  to  S.S.W.  about  2  knots.  Noon,  lat.  6*  8'  S., 
long,  (by  bearings)  106°  46'  E.  P.M.,  light  breeze  from  N.N.E.  and  clear. 
6  p.m.,  light  breeze  from  N.E.  hauling  to  eastward.     All  possible  sail  set. 

11  p.m..  West  Point  of  Princes  Island  bearing  south  about  12  miles,  clear 
moonlight ;  still  passing  vessels  bound  northward,  twenty  at  least  in  the  Strait. 

Thursday,  2l9t  June,  1866.— Fine  steady  moderate  breeze  and  clear 
from  E.S.E.  Employed  as  formerly  and  making  a  ringtail  of  No.  4  extra,  76 
yards  of  canvas.     Noon,  lat.  7°  50'  S.,  long.  103*  11'  E. 

Friday,  22nd  June,  1866.— Some  wind  veering  from  E.  to  S.E.  and 
back  to  E.  Altered  the  course  more  southerly  to  pass  south  of  Keeling  Island 
and  get  more  wind  if  possible.  Employed  as  above  and  scraped  pitch  off 
deck  along  the  seams,  etc.  Noon,  lat.  10°  5'  S.,  long.  lOO*  16'  E.  Distance 
215  miles.  P.M.,  holystoned  the  topgallant  forecastle  head  and  thoroughly 
washed  the  decks  ready  for  varnishing  to-morrow — weather  permitting. 
Midnight,  steady  E.S.E.  wind  and  clear. 

Saturday,  23rd  June,  1866.— Same  weather.  Varnished  the  deck. 
Carpenter  finishing  the  gangway  ladders,  rope  carving  along  the  edge.  Noon, 
lat.  12°  57'  S.,  long.  96°  48'  E.  Distance  290  miles.  P.M.  till  3,  very 
unsettled  with  rain.  About  3. 30  p.m. ,  fresh  S.  E.  trade  wind  again  came  away. 
Watch  setting  up  topmast  rigging. 

Sunday,  24th  June,  1866.— Strong  squalls  from  S.S.E.  and  very 
confused  S.W.  sea.      Ship  pitching  and  surging  to  leeward  considerably.      In 


xxii  THE  CHINA  CLIPPERS 

all  small  sails  and  stunsails.  8  a.m.,  leechrope  of  main  topgallant  sail  gave 
way  and  split  the  sail.  In  main  royal  and  shifted  main  topgallant  sail. 
10.30  a.m.,  set  them  again  and  fore-topmast  stunsail.  Noon,  had  set  fore 
and  mizen  royals  and  topgallant  staysails.  Noon,  lat.  14°  9'  S.,  long.  91  51 
E.  Distance  280  miles.  P.M.  and  midnight,  fresh  breeze  and  high 
southerly  sea. 

MondaTf  23th  June,  1866.— Fresh  steady  S.E.  by  S.  trades  and  high 
southerly  sea;  less  squally;  set  topgallant  stunsails  and  main  topmast  and 
lower  stunsails ;  sea  less  from  ahead.  Watch  about  the  rigging  as  formerly. 
Carpenter  putting  on  the  iron  band  again  round  rudder  and  stempost  head ; 
have  to  ease  the  wood  at  afterpart  to  let  the  hoop  down  and  to  work  more 
freely.  Sailraaker  making  a  ringtail.  Noon,  lat.  14°  57'  S.,  long.  86°  30'  E. 
Distance  317  miles.  P.M.,  same  weather.  Shipping  water  over  all  these 
two  days  past — chiefly  at  the  ends. 

Tuesday,  26th  June,  1866. — Same  weather,  less  wind.  All  possible  sail 
set.  Employed  as  above.  Carpenter  making  stunsail  yards  ;  having  carried 
away  two  topmasts,  one  royal  and  one  topgallant  stunsail  yard  (two  latter 
when  in  use  for  Jamie  Green).  Noon,  lat.  16°  11'  S.,  long.  81°  3'  E. 
Distance  330  miles.     P.M.,  wind  more  aft. 

Wednesday,  27th  June,  1866.— Wind  light  from  E.  and  E.  by  N.  Set 
starboard  stunsails  and  ringtail  and  watersail  under  it  and  laced  mizen  staysail 
to  outside  of  lower  stunsail.  Noon  lat.  17°  23'  S.,  long.  76°  28'  E.  Distance 
270  miles.     P.M.,  same  weather. 

Thursday,  28th  June,  1866. — Fine  clear  weather  and  light  trade  wind 
from  E.  and  E.S.E.,  hauling  to  S.E.  All  possible  sail  set  to  best  advantage. 
Employed  as  formerly  reserving  lower  and  topmast  rigging.  Set  up  topmast 
and  topgallant  rigging  and  re-rattled  the  rigging— not  particularly  till  round 
the  Cape.  Carpenter  making  grating  for  fore-scuttle  doorway.  Sailmaker 
giving  the  ringtail  4  feet  more  roach  in  the  foot — 6J  feet  in  all.  A  topgallant 
stunsail  set  instead  of  it  meantime.  Noon,  lat.  18°  30'  S.,  long.  72°  40'  E. 
Distance  230  miles.  P.M.,  again  bent  the  spare  flying-jib  for  a  jib  topsail  set 
on  fore-royal  stay  well  up. 

Friday,  29th  June,  1866. — Same  weather.  Similarly  employed.  Noon, 
lat.  19°  51'  S.,  long.  68°  18'  E.  Distance  255  miles.  The  other  evening  the 
ste%vard  in  opening  a  drawer  found  a  box  of  matches  had  ignited  and 
burned  some  paper  near  it.  The  end  of  the  box  had  been  nibbled  by 
a  rat  and  no  doubt  caused  the  matches  to  ignite — the  closeness  of  the  drawer 
probably  smothered  the  fire — but  this  shows  how  fire  may  originate. 

Saturday,  30th  June,  1866. — Same  light  trade  wind  from  eastward  and 
clear  weather.  Sea  getting  smoother.  Employed  about  the  rigging,  greased 
masts,  cleaned  steering-screw,  etc.,  cleaned  brass  work,  oiled  yard  trusses  and 
steering-gear,  etc.,  as  usual  on  Saturdays — weather  permitting.  Noon, 
lat.  21°  19'  S.,  long.  63°  51'  E.     Distance  270  miles. 

Sunday,  1st  July,  1866. — Wind  lighter  from  E.  by  N.  and  smooth  sea. 
Noon,  lat.  22°  42' S.,  long.  60°  30' E.  Distance  205  miles.  P.M.,  same 
weather,  sky  very  clear. 


APPENDIX  xxiii 

Monday.  2nd  July,  1866. — Same  weather.  Employed  about  the  rigging, 
serving  over  ends  of  splices  of  heavy  lower  braces  rove  after  leaving  Anjer. 
Rove  Europe  main  braces,  the  Manila  braces  were  too  heavy  to  work  well 
through  the  bulwark.  Sailmaker  making  a  fore-royal  stunsail.  Carpenter 
making  shelf  to  go  between  after  fife-rail  stanchions  8  inches  above  the  deck 
'  for  mess  kids  being  opposite  the  galley  door.  Noon,  lat.  24°  28'  S., 
long.  57°  18'  E.     Distance  205  miles. 

Taesday,  3rd  July,  1866. — Light  breeze  from  north-eastward  and  clear 
weather.  Noon,  lat.  25*52' S.,  long.  54°  20' E.  Distance  193  miles.  P.M., 
less  wind  and  more  northerly. 

Wednesday,  4th  July,  1866. — Heavy  dew.  Very  clear  till  about  4  a.m. 
very  light  N.N.E.  wind  and  sky  overcast.  5.30  a.m.,  sudden  shift  of  wind  to 
westward,  moderate  with  rain  till  10  then  very  light  S.W.  wind.  Noon, 
moderate  with  rain.  Lat.  26*  39'  S.,  long.  52°  1'  E.  Distance  120  miles. 
P.M.,  freshening  from  S.S.W.,  all  sail  set.  Employed  as  yesterday  and 
drying  stunsails,  etc.  Unbent  main  topmast  and  large  lower  stunsails  and 
ringtail,  foresail  bonnet,  watersail,  etc.  Unrigged  boom  and  made  all  secure 
about  decks.     Midnight,  continued  clear  and  moderate  from  S.W. 

Thursday,  5th  July,  1866. — Wind  hauling  more  westerly.  Employed 
about  the  ri^ng  and  putting  away  aforesaid  sails.  Made  a  new  fore-hatch 
tarpaulin  to  put  on  under  two  others.  Repaired  main  and  fore  topgallant  sails, 
both  split  recently  by  rope  breaking  just  below  the  inside  head  cringle.  Main- 
sail went  the  same  way  (rope  seems  rather  light) ;  bent  said  sails  again  and  put 
away  the  best  suit.  Towards  noon,  light  wind  from  S.W.  by  W.,  and  clear 
weather.  Long  swell  from  westward.  Noon,  lat.  26°  57'  S.,  long.  48°  30'  E. 
Distance  190  miles. 

Friday,  6th  July,  1866.— Same  weather  till  about  8  a.m.  Wind  very 
light  and  hauling  to  south  and  S.S.E.  Set  port  stunsails.  Employed  as 
yesterday.  Carpenter  making  a  grating  for  deck  at  after  part  of  quarter  hatch. 
Sailmaker  making  the  fore-royal  stunsail.  Unscrewed  and  cleaned  bobstay  and 
bowsprit  shroud,  setting  up  screws  (fourth  time  this  voyage),  and  oil  them 
well  with  castor  oil,  also  other  screws,  etc.,  requiring  it  to  keep  all  in  good 
working  order.  Noon,  lat.  27°  1'  S.,  long.  46°  36'  E.  Distance  no  miles. 
P.M.  and  midnight,  very  light  easterly  wind. 

Saturday,  7th  July,  1866.— Same  weather  and  wind,  hauling  to  E.  and 
E.  byN.  Noon,  lat  27*58'$.,  long.  44°  25' E.  Distance  132  miles.  P.M. 
and  midnight,  same  weather  and  cloudy. 

Sunday,  8th  July,  1866.— Same  weather.  Noon,  lat  29°  23'  S., 
long.  41*  21'  E.    Distance  180  miles.    P.M.,  better  breeze  and  hauling  to  N.E. 

Monday,  9th  July,  1866.— 2  a.m.,  wind  hauling  to  N.N.E.,  sky  over- 
cast lightning  in  the  westward.  In  after  stunsails.  3.30  a.m.,  rain.  In  all 
stunsails  and  small  sails.  4  a.m.,  fresh  squall  from  N.W.  In  main  royal  and 
mizen  topgallant  sail  and  flying  jib.  4-30  a.m.,  light  wind.  5  a.m.,  made 
sail  again,  heading  south-westward,  showery  and  Ught  baffling  W.N.W.  wind. 
10  a.m.,  wind  shifted  to  S.W.  ;  tacked  to  W.  by  N.  ;  clearing  up.      Noon, 


"«▼  THE  CHINA  CLIPPERS 

lat.  30°  52'  S.,  long.  38*  58'  E.     Distance  157  miles.     P.M.,  drying  stunsails 
and  other  work.     Midnight,  moderate  southerly  wind  ;  all  sail  set. 

Tuesday,  10th  July,  1866. — A  little  squally ;  in  royal  staysails  when 
needful.  Carpenter  fishing  a  fore-topmast  stunsail  boom  ;  he  let  in  a  piece  of 
teak,  it  will  be  rounded  with  fine  twelve  thread  stuff,  having  no  hoops,  and  he 
is  fitting  a  rope  strop  to  answer  for  yardarm  iron — the  same  as  fitted  for  ringtail 
boom.  Watch  seizing  off  the  lower  lanyards  snug,  etc.,  and  making  sennet. 
Noon,  lat.  32°  24'  S.,  long.  34°  58' E.  Distance  222  miles.  P.M.,  clear  and 
fine  breeze  from  S.  by  W.  4  p.m.,  passed  ship  City  of  Bombay  from  Calcutta 
to  London  47  days  out.  She  was  6  miles  ahead  at  noon.  Midnight, 
less  wind  from  S.S.E. 

Wednesday,  11th  July,  1866. — Continued  fine  weather  and  light  wind, 
hauling  to  S.E.  and  E.  Noon,  lat  33°  34'  S.,  long.  30°  54'  E.  Distance  227 
miles.  P.M.,  wind  hauling  more  to  N.E.  and  N.N.E.  ;  in  after-stunsails  at 
10  p.m.     Midnight,  fresh  breeze  and  clear. 

Thursday,  12th  July,  1866. — Wind  freshening  rapidly  from  2  to  5  a.m. 
In  royals  and  flying  jib.  5.30  a.m.,  much  less  wind,  hauling  to  N.  and  N.W. 
Set  all  sail  on  a  wind.  Noon,  light  W.N.W.  wind,  smooth  water  and  clear 
weather.  Noon,  lat.  34°  46'  S.,  long.  27°  16'  E.  Distance  190  miles. 
2  p.m.,  tacked  to  N.W.  ;  light  W.  by  S.  wind.  Watch  employed  making 
sennet,  tapering  ends  of  lower  lanyard  mats  ready  to  go  on  by  and  by. 
Stoppered  the  leach-rope  of  fore-topsail  which  was  gone  at  starboard  clew 
(halliards  should  be  eased  just  before  rain  or  heavy  dew  if  they  have  been  sweated 
tight  up  in  dry  weather).  Carpenter  began  to  raise  after-grating  and  binnacle 
4  inches  off  the  deck  ;  preparing  the  teak  and  carving,  etc.  Midnight,  very 
light  westerly  wind.  Tacked  to  southward  having  got  soundings  in  75 
fathoms,  which  agrees  with  reckoning. 

Friday,  13th  July,  1866. — Towards  9  a.m.,  wind  freshening  a  little  and 
hauling  to  northward ;  set  fore-topmast  and  topgallant  stunsails  (jib  topsail  on 
fore-royal  stay  and  Jamie  Green  set  as  usual).  Noon,  lat.  35°  17'  S., 
long.  24°  50'  E.  Distance  131  miles.  Experienced  about  36  miles  westerly 
current  in  the  24  hours.  4  p.m.,  wind  N.W.  ;  stunsails  in.  A  barque  to 
leeward  and  ship  to  windward,  passing  them  fast,  other  vessels  seen  firom  aloft. 
Midnight,  fresh  breeze  from  W.N.W.  and  confused  sea. 

Saturday,  l4th  July,  1866. — i  a.m.,  ship  almost  unmanageable  in  the 
strong  current.  She  came  round  against  the  helm,  and  gathered  dangerous 
stern  way ;  braced  round  and  trimmed  on  port  tack.  Till  5  a.m.,  strong  gusts 
and  confused  sea ;  topgallant  sails  in.  5.30  a.m.,  it  suddenly  moderated  ;  set 
all  sail  on  a  wind.  Noon,  lat  36°  i'  S.,  long.  21°  46'  E.  Distance  159  miles. 
Experienced  52  miles  of  W.S.W.  current  in  the  24  hours.  P.M.,  wind  very 
light  then  calm ;  clear  weather.  Shifted  fore  and  main  upper  topsails ;  rope 
gone  at  clews.  6  p.m.,  faint  air  from  N.E.  ;  set  stunsails.  Midnight,  light 
breeze,  clear,  and  heavy  dew. 

Sunday,  15th  July,  1866. — Clear  weather  and  light  northerly  wind, 
hauling  to  N.W.  In  stunsails,  etc.,  as  the  wind  hauled.  Signalised  British 
ship  Tantallon  CasiU  from  Calcutta  to  London,  45  days  out ;  we  came  up  to 


APPENDIX  XXV 

and  passed  her  easily.  Noon,  lat  35°  53'  S.,  long.  20*  12'  E.  Distance  82 
miles.  Current  8  miles  east.  P.M.,  faint  N.W.  and  W.N.W.  winds. 
4  p.m.,  tacked  to  northward.  6  to  7  P-m.,  nearly  calm,  then  faint  air  from 
S.E.,  ship  barely  steering,  freshened  towards  9  p.m. ;  set  stunsails.  Midnight, 
barometer  felling;  getting  cloudy  and  misty,  dew  falling,  confused  sea.  In 
royal  stunsails. 

Monday,  16th  July,  1866. — I  a.m.,  in  topgallant  stunsails,  skysail, 
wind  hauling  to  E.N.E.  and  N.E.  3.30  a-m.,  sky  clearing  and  steady 
moderate  wind;  set  topgallant  stunsails  and  skysail  again.  7a.m.,  wind 
hauling  more  northerly.  In  after  and  lower  stunsails.  Passing  several  vessels 
going  same  way.  Noon,  lat.  35°  40'  S.,  long  17°  30'  E.  Distance  130  miles. 
14  miles  of  current  E.  by  S.  P.M.,  wind  hauling  more  and  freshening.  In 
stunsails,  stajrsails,  Jamie  Green,  skysail  and  fore  and  mizen  royals.  4  p.m., 
fresh  breeze  from  N.N.W.  ;  getting  cloudy.  Barometer  which  has  been  from 
30'20  to  30"6o  since  passing  Mauritius  now  30*00.  8  p.m.,  barometer  29"9S. 
More  wind  and  sea,  topgallant  sails  and  flying  jib  in. 

Tuesday,  17th  July,  1866. — Wind  increasing.  Crossjack  and  spanker 
furled  to  ease  her  in  pitching.  Mizen  staysail  set.  At  daylight,  less  wind. 
Set  toj^allant  sails  and  spanker.  10.30  a.m.,  set  main  royal  and  flying  jib. 
11.45  a.m.,  dark  cloud  rising  ahead.  Up  mainsail,  in  crossjack  and  mizen 
staysail,  main  royal  and  flying  jib.  Noon,  wind  headed  ofif  to  S.W.  and  S. 
Up  foresail  and  wore  round  with  light  westerly  wind  and  cloudy  weather.  On 
port  tack  heading  N.  Noon,  lat.  36°  3'  S.,  long.  14°  23'  E.  (by  account). 
Distance  160  miles.  P.M.,  wind  increased  to  a  moderate  breeze  and  head  sea 
falling.    Set  all  sail  gradually  and  fore-topmast  stunsail. 

Wednesday,  18th  July,  1866.— Light  westerly  and  S.W.  winds.  Watch 
preparing  the  mats ;  repairing  upper  topsails,  etc.  Noon,  lat.  34°  35'  S., 
long.  12°  21'  E.     Distance  133  miles. 

Thursday,  19th  July,  1866.— Same  wind  and  generally  clear  weather. 
Passing  four  vessels  fast.  10  a.m.,  wind  hauling  to  south ;  set  starboard 
stunsails.  Employed  getting  all  coal  up  out  of  coal  hole  ;  put  2  tons  in  the 
shifting  box  and  about  i  ton  in  galley  locker,  sheep  pen  and  pig  house  (both 
pigs  having  been  killed),  one  yesterday  and  the  other  ten  days  previously. 
'  Carpenter  making  a  grating  cover  for  sail  cabin  hatch.  I  will  condemn  the 
present  heavy  teak  cover.  Also  making  a  new  fancy  canvas  cover  of  No.  2 
to  go  under  the  present  canvas  cover,  to  be  thoroughly  watertight  when 
secured  down.  Noon,  lat.  32°  54'  S.,  long.  10°  55'  E.  Distance  133  miles. 
2.30  p.m.,  wind  hauled  to  S.S.E.,  gybed  spanker  and  shifted  fore  and  lower 
stunsails  over;  bent  and  set  fore-royal  stunsails.  Drizzling  showers  with 
passing  light  squalls  ;  vrind  veering  from  S.  by  E.  ;  all  port  stunsails  in. 

Friday,  20th  July,  1866.— 2  a.m.,  in  a  slight  shower  which  rose  on 
starboard  quarter,  wind  for  2  or  3  minutes  came  from  N.E.  ;  kept  offW.  by 
N.,  but  it  backed  immediately  to  S.E.  ;  took  in  royal  stunsails  and  jib 
topsail,  skysail  and  royals  and  downed  staysails.  2.15  a.m.,  set  royals, 
skysail  and  staysails,  and  trimmed  yards;  wind  E.S.E.  Daylight,  set  all 
)le  sail,  wind  still  veering  from  E.  by  S.  to  S.E.  with  passing  clouds. 


zxvi  THE  CHINA  CLIPPERS 

Employed  as  yesterday.  Carpenter  finished  hatch  cover.  Noon,  lat.  31° 
10'  S.,  long.  7°  31'  E.  Distance  188  miles.  P.M.,  took  in,  set  and  trimmed 
sail  as  necessary. 

Saturday,  21st  July,  1866i — Increasing  head  sea.  Wind  gradually 
headed  ship  oflf  to  N.N.W.  and  N.W.  Noon,  light  baffling  N.N.W.  wind 
veering  with  every  cloud.  Lat.  29°  20'  S.,  long.  2°  45'  E.  Distance  271  miles. 
P.M.,  calms  and  baffling  airs,  tacking,  etc.,  as  necessary. 

Sunday,  '  22nd  July,  1866> — Wind  all  round  the  compass,  clouds 
generally  moving  from  northward,  sky  partially  clear.  Noon,  lat.  29°  27'  S., 
long.  2°  4'  E.     Distance  40  miles.     P.M.,  calms  and  baffling. 

Monday,  23rd  July,  1866, — Same  weather.  Tacking  and  trimming 
yards,  etc.  Sent  up  one  of  the  Foochow  spare  spars  for  main-topmast  stunsail- 
boom — the  fished  boom  having  given  way.  Bent  the  second  fore  and  main  upper 
topsails ;  put  away  the  best     Noon,  lat.  28°  56'  S.,  long.  0°  57'  E.     Distance 

75  miles.     P.  M. ,  calms  and  baffling  airs  ;  very  clear  and  smooth  sea. 
Tuesday,  24th  July,   1866i — Faint  airs  from  westward.      Steering  to 

make  northing  to  reach  limits  of  S.E.  trades  as  soon  as  possible.  Watch 
putting  on  lower  lanyard  mats ;  swiftering  and  sparing  the  rigging  ready  for 
rattling  down.  Carpenter  making  eight  teak  capstan  bars  for  a  fixed  rack  on 
after  part  of  house,  also  made  a  proper  water  funnel — lead  nozzle ;  copper 
wanted.  Main  skysail  very  thin ;  making  another  of  four  cloths  No,  3 
in  middle,  wings  of  No.  5,  taking  the  bonnet  of  foresail  as  we  have  no  other 
light  canvas.  Cleaned  the  coal  hole  thoroughly  and  gave  a  second  coat  of 
pine  oil  over  iron  also.  Noon,  lat.  27°  31'  S.,  long.  0°  27'  E.  Distance  85 
miles.     P.M.,  vrind  hauling  to  S.W. 

Wednesday,  25th  July,  1866.— Wind  hauling  to  south  and  S.E., 
freshening  a  very  little ;  all  possible  sail  set,  ringtail,  water-sails,  save-alls, 
mizen-staysail  wing  to  lower  stunsail,  etc.  Found  the  ship  is  again  on  even 
keel.  Using  the  water  must  lighten  her  aft,  as,  though  we  put  the  Manila 
and  Europe  tow  ropes  in  the  lower  forecastle  the  other  day  from  my  cabin, 
we  brought  fully  2  tons  of  coal  from  coal  hole  to  forepart  of  quarter-hatch  in 
the  shifting  box,  therefore  moved  said  box  aft  alongside  skylight  starboard  side 
to  trim  a  little  by  the  stern.     Noon,  lat.  26°  31'  S.,  long.  0°  12'  W.     Distance 

76  miles.  P.M.,  wind  freshening  to  moderate  breeze  and  cloudy,  veering  with 
every  cloud  from  S.S.E.  to  E.  Yards  trimmed  for  S.E.  wind  and  edging  oft 
north  as  required. 

Thursday,  26th  July,  1866, — Wind  falling  light  at  times.  Employed 
rattling  lower  and  topmast  rigging.  Hitching  the  separate  strands  round  the 
shrouds  and  laying  up  again  between  the  shrouds  for  snugness.  Carpenter  at 
fancy  capstan  bars,  sailmaker  at  the  new  skysail,  and  one  hand  making  the 
fringe  of  sail  cabin  cover.  Noon,  lat.  24°  22'  S.,  long.  3°  20'  W.  Distance 
220  miles.  Water  when  pumping  ship  in  dog  watch  comes  up  very  rusty  with 
the  kentledge  and  one  scupper  abreast  is  too  small  to  discharge  what  pumps 
throw;  a  larger  scupper  and  hose  would  keep  decks  clean.  P.M.,  light 
baffling  winds  and  cloudy. 

Friday,  27th  July,  1866. — Wind  veering  all  round  the  compass,  and 


APPENDIX  xxvii 

calm;  at  times  airs  prevailing  from  eastward.      Noon,  lat.  22°  18'  S.,  long. 
5°  32'  W.     Distance  180  miles. 

Saturday,  28th  July,  1866. — Same  weather.  Strange  winds  where  the 
S.E.  trades  usually  prevail.  Bent  the  new  skysail— the  other  of  No.  s  is 
as  thin  as  paper  in  all  respects.  Noon,  lat.  20°  13'  S.,  long.  7°  46'  W. 
Distance  180  miles. 

Sunday,  29th  July,  1866. — Same  weather  and  showery.  Noon,  lat. 
l8*  58'  S.,  long.  9°  2'  W.  Distance  105  miles.  6  p.m.,  began  to  freshen 
from  east.     Midnight,  steady,  moderate  E.S.E.  trade  wind. 

Monday,  30th  July,  1866. — Wind  hauled  to  S.E.,  sky  clearing  with 
steady  trade  wind.  8.30  a.m.,  a  three-masted  schooner  Mondeco,  bound  south, 
signalled,  " Can  you  spare  provisions ? "  We  replied,  "No."  She  proceeded 
close  hauled  to  southward.  Employed  rattling  down,  tarring,  etc.  Carpenter 
putting  down  carved  teak  base  for  binnacle  and  athwartships  to  raise  after 
gratings  to  same  level,  4  inches  above  deck.  Noon,  lat.  16°  30'  S.,  long. 
10'  18'  W.     Distance  165  miles. 

Tuesday,  31st  July,  1866. — Same  vnnd  and  weather.  Noon,  lat.  13* 
5'  S.,  long.  12*  36'  W.     Distance  240  miles. 

Wednesday,  1st  August,  1866. — Same  weather.  Employed  black 
painting  ties,  topsail  sheets,  etc,  and  seizing  on  short  spars  2  inches  higher 
than  every  ratlin — to  remain  till  near  arrival  to  keep  all  in  best  order. 
Poured  about  I  gallon  of  pine  oil  into  rents  of  spare  spars,  also  jibboom  that 
is  out,  to  keep  wood  fresh  and  sound.  Will  turn  the  spars  over  in  about  a 
week  and  fill  rents  on  other  side.  Noon,  lat.  8*  46'  S.,  long.  13°  58'  W., 
Distance  270  miles.  P.M.,  sighted  Ascension  Island.  4.30  p.m.,  abreast 
S.E.  point,  distant  3  miles.  Saw  three  ships  running  during  the  day,  left 
them  all  fast.     Towards  midnight,  wind  getting  light. 

Thursday,  2nd  August,  1866. — Same  weather.  Employed  scrubbing 
inside  of  boats;  pumping  all  fresh  water  out  of  port  tank  (it  just  filled  other 
tank  and  all  the  small  casks),  then  filled  the  port  tank  with  salt  water  to  trim 
ship  by  the  stern,  as  we  can't  have  the  shifting  box  full  of  coal  close  aft 
while  cleaning  ship.  Also  finishing  odds  and  ends  about  the  rigging  and 
putting  on  mats  and  battens  after  tarring.  Towards  noon,  wind  very  light  and 
sultry  weather.  Noon,  lat.  5°  49'  S.,  long.  15°  40'  N.  Distance  208  miles. 
Steering  for  2i*  22'  W.  at  crossing  the  line.  Wind  very  light  from  S.S.E. 
to  S.E.  by  S. 

Friday,  3rd  August,  1866.— Light  steady  S.S.E.  wind  and  clear. 
Employed  painting  inside  of  boats.  Had  all  the  bottom  boards  unshipped — 
painted  them,  under  and  upper  sides,  ditto  side,  puddings  and  belts 
thoroughly.     Noon,  lat.  3*  35'  S.,  long.  17°  S7'  W.     Distance  191  miles. 

Saturday,  4th  August,  1866.— Same  wind  and  weather.  Carpenter 
finished  the  carved  front  for  after  gratings— did  not  fix  them  in  place  till  ship 
is  clean.  Got  up  eight  empty  small  tanks  out  of  store-room  and  painted  them 
and  stowed  the  tea  (12  chests  and  22  half  chests),  which  has  been  in  the  cabin 
locker-heads  to  trim  the  ship  by  the  stern.  Stowed  some  eight  cans  of  ginger 
and  twelve  boxes  of  tea  in  starboard  water-closet,  etc.     Holystoned  under  the 


xxviil  THE  CHINA  CLIPPERS 

long  boat,  to  oil  the  deck  while  the  boat  is  standing  keel  down.  Scraped  the 
lignum  vitae  fair-leads  and  upper  deadeyes  and  oiled  them.  Noon,  lat.  i° 
28'  S.,  long.  19°  54'  W.  Distance  170  miles.  P.M.,  a  barque  in  company 
dropping  astern  fast. 

Sunday,  5th  August.  1866.— Same  weather.  Steering  right  before  the 
wind.  Noon,  lat.  o*  20'  N.,  long.  22°  i'  W.  Distance  170  miles.  67  days 
to  the  line  from  the  Foochow  River, 

Monday,  6th  August,  1866.— Same  light  steady  S.S.E.  winds  and 
clear.  Employed  turning  boats  down  on  the  skids  again ;  stowed  the  small 
tanks  on  a  plank  on  the  skids  within  the  after  boats,  stowed  the  pighouse  in 
its  place  under  the  large  boat  forward,  after  pine  oiling  the  deck  and  anchors 
under  said  boat.  Scraped  all  the  spots  of  pitch,  tar,  grease,  etc.,  off  the  paint- 
work aloft  and  about  the  bulwarks,  rails  and  waterways,  etc.,  then  commenced 
scrubbing  the  bright  work  and  paint  work  with  sand.  Broached  the  full  tank 
of  fresh  water  (2050  gallons)  to-day.  Noon,  lat.  2°  59'  N.,  long.  24*  31'  W. 
Distance  220  miles.     1  knot  current  in  favour. 

Tuesday,  7th  August,  1866. — Same  weather.  Carpenter  repairing 
bulwarks  where  stove'in,  port  side  of  fore  rigging  and  preparing  bottom  boards 
of  teak  for  the  sheep  pen.  Noon,  lat.  6°  18'  N.,  long.  26°  12'  W.  Distance 
221  miles.  I  knot  of  current  to  northward.  P.M.,  scraped  rust  blisters  to 
the  bare  iron  of  mizen  and  mainmast  and  rubbed  clean  and  smooth  with  sand- 
stone, also  a  few  spots  on  foremast  and  bowsprit,  then  coated  with  white  zinc 
which  when  dry  will  be  smoothed  along  edges  of  blister  marks  with  pumice- 
stone  before  painting  mast  colour.     Midnight,  nearly  calm  ;  sky  overcast. 

Wednesday,  8th  August,  1866. — Light  wind  hauling  to  westward. 
5  a.m.,  braced  nearly  sharp  up  on  port  tack ;  stunsails  set  forward.  Employed 
scrubbing  bright  work  and  paint  work  witli  sand  and  pumice-stone ;  inside 
bulwarks,  etc.  Carpenter  put  new  teak  bottom  on  the  sheep  pen.  Noon, 
lat.  8°  33'  N.,  long.  26°  58'  W.     Distance  145  miles. 

Thursday,  9th  August,  1866. — Light  and  moderate  winds  from  west- 
ward. Sky  generally  clear.  Similarly  employed,  and  carpenter  taking  off  the 
sheathing  of  starboard  fore  and  port  mizen  channels.  Noon,  lat.  9°  59'  N., 
long.  27°  7'  W.     Distance  85  miles.     Midnight,  wind  moderate  from  W.N.W. 

Friday,  10th  August,  1866. — Wind  baffling.  Still  scrubbing  with  sand. 
Scraping  smooth  and  pumice-stoning.  Carpenter  doing  carving  on  handspike 
rack.  At  4  a.m.,  wind  died  away  to  a  calm.  5  a.m.,  light  misty  air  from 
N.W.  hauling  to  north.  6  a.m.,  tacked  with  light  showery  weather  and 
N.N.E.  wind  which  freshened,  promising  to  be  the  N.E.  trades.  Noon, 
lat.  12°  42'  N.,  long.  28°  28'  W.  Distance  185  miles.  Passed  two  ships 
running  south.     P.M.,  wind  rather  unsteady. 

Saturday,  11th  August,  1866.— Wind  veering  from  N.  by  E.  to  N.E., 
from  fresh  breeze  to  a  calm.  Finished  scrubbing  inside  and  scrubbed  the 
bulwarks  outside  to  a  plank  below  the  covering  board.  Carpenter  taking  oR 
all  channel  sheathing  on  starboard  side.  Will  leave  port  fore  and  main  till 
across  N.E.  trades  to  help  her  when  side  is  down.  Noon,  lat.  14°  2'  N., 
long.  31*7' W.     Distance  184  miles.     P.M.,  washed  down  thoroughly  inside 


APPENDIX  xxU 

and  out.     To-day  commenced  burning  wood  instead  of  coal  to  keep  paint 
work  dean. 

Sunday.  I2th  August,  1866.— Same  weather.  Noon,  lat.  15°  56'  N., 
long.  33°  12'  W.  Distance  162  miles.  P.M.,  a  barque  in  company  dropping 
astern.    Slight  showers  occasionally.    Same  veering  light,  north-easterly  winds. 

Monday,  13th  August,  1866. — Wind  steadier  and  clear  weather. 
Commenced  to  oil  the  bright  work  and  paint  inside  ship,  first  the  white  panels. 
Noon,  lat.  17°  30'  N.,  long.  34*  59'  W.  Distance  154  miles.  Carpenter  on 
small  jobs  in  order  not  to  make  chips — lower  ends  of  carved  ornaments  on 
house  too  fragile,  shortened  them  a  little. 

Tuesday,  14th  August,  1866. — 2  to  6  a.m.,  showery;  paint  mostly  set 
fortunately.  Till  9  a.m.,  scrubbing  and  scraping  gratings,  ladders,  bucket 
racks,  etc.  Sky  clearing  with  moderate  E.  by  N.  wind.  Washed  down  and 
went  on  painting  ;  gave  bright  work  a  second  coat  of  raw  oil  rubbed  on  thin ; 
and  panels,  etc.,  a  second  coat  of  white.  (Mean  to  give  everything  two  coats 
of  paint  and  bright  work  three  coats  of  oil,  and  after  decks,  etc.,  are  cleaned, 
copal  varnish  the  bright  work.)  Noon,  lat.  20°  13'  N.,  long.  36°  12'  W. 
Distance  163  miles.  P.M.,  gave  all  three  boats  second  coat  of  white  outside, 
also  doing  second  coat  of  white  and  first  of  green  inside  the  bulwarks. 

Wednesday,  15th  August,  1866.— Light  steady  N.£.  trade  wind. 
Oiling  and  painting.  Carpenter  made  cement  of  fine  dry  lime  and  tar  and 
refilled  over  bolt-heads  of  covering  board.  Noon,  lat.  23°  33'  N.,  long.  37° 
18'  W.     Distance  210  miles. 

Thursday,  16th  August,  1866. — Very  light  easterly  wind  and  clear, 
warm  weather.  Carpenter  took  off  remainder  of  channel  sheathing — port 
side.  Watch  painting  and  oiling.  Painted  waterway  plank  blue  mixed  with 
zinc.  Gave  the  masts  and  mastheads,  etc.,  first  coat  nearly  flesh  colour  with 
patent  and  white  zinc  mixed.  Noon,  lat.  26°  49'  N.,  long.  38°  11'  W. 
Distance  202  miles. 

Friday,  17th  August,  1866. — Finished  painting  and  oiling  inside,  and 
most  of  masts ;  sails  flapping  too  much  to  finish  all,  being  nearly  calm. 
Scraped  the  channels  and  washed  outside  below  covering  board.  Noon,  lat. 
28°  7'  N.,  long.  38°  39'  W.  Distance  82  miles.  P.M.,  painted  back  ropes, 
inner  part  of  guys,  lower-brace  pennants  lead  colour.  9  p.m.  to  midnight, 
calms  and  baffling  airs.     Hauled  yards  round  as  necessary. 

Saturday,  18th  August,  1866.— Bafiling  and  calm  till  6.30  a.m.  then 
clear  and  fireshening  air  from  S.W.  and  W.S.W.  Set  stunsails.  Finished 
painting  the  masts  aloft  before  8  a.m.  Wind  hauling  to  west  and  N.W., 
steering  N.E.  J  N.,  corrected  compass.  In  stunsails,  etc.,  when  necessary. 
Employed  painting  outside  from  rail  to  two  planks  below  channels  all  round. 
Noon,  lat.  28°  58'  N.,  long.  38°  40'  W.  Distance  55  miles.  4  p.m.,  finished 
painting;  commenced  to  break  sand  for  cleaning  decks.  Put  the  newly 
painted  small  casks  (for  vinegar,  molasses,  etc.)  below  in  lower  forecastle. 
Put  hold  ladder  and  stage  planks  across  the  stern  again,  stowed  there  some 
ten  days  ago,  with  broken  booms,  etc.,  partly  resting  on  middle  of  taffrail, 
ends  on  two  topgallant  stunsail  booms  lying  on  the  bumpkins  and  outer  edge 
DD 


XXX  THE  CHINA  CLIPPERS 

of  quarter  chops  of  tafifrail.  Broke  up  the  shifting  coal  box  and  otherwise 
prepared  for  cleaning  decks,  put  the  coal  forward  into  coal  locker.  Midnight, 
faint  north-westerly  airs  and  clear  weather,  sea  smooth. 

Sunday,  19th  August,  1866. — Calms  and  faint  airs.  Noon,  lat.  30° 
36'  N.,  long.  37°  43'  W.  Distance  108  miles,  P.M.  and  midnight, 
same  weather. 

Monday,  20th  August,  1866.— Same  weather.  Tacked,  squared  away, 
etc.,  as  necessary.  Commenced  holystoning  decks.  Carpenter  replacing  two 
large  pieces  of  carved  work  washed  away  when  caught  aback  one  night  in 
south  latitude.  Cleaned  and  painted  inside  of  house.  Noon,  lat.  30°  56'  N. , 
long-  37°  26'  W.     Distance  32  miles. 

Tuesday,  21st  August,  1866.— Same  weather.  2  a.m.,  tacked  to 
N.N.W.,  light  breeze  from  N.E.  Clear  weather,  a  little  swell  from  N.W. 
Noon,  lat.  31°  29'  N.,  long.  37°  21'  W.     Distance  36  miles. 

Wednesday,  22nd  August,  1866. — Same  weather.  Watch  going  over 
decks  with  large  and  small  holystones  the  second  time.  Carpenter  fitting 
stands  of  sidelights  abaft  mizen  rigging  with  k-  rake  out  to  show  lights  right 
ahead  clear  of  courses  and  all  ropes.  Noon,  lat.  32°  40'  N.,  long.,  39°  3'  W. 
Distance  1 14  miles. 

Thursday,  23rd  August,  1866. — Light  baffling  winds  and  calms. 
Much  time  employed  in  trimming  sails,  otherwise  holystoning  decks,  scrubbing 
gratings,  bright  bucket  rack  and  buckets  (12  in  number)  gun  carriages,  etc. 
Carpenter  preparing  teak  to  put  a  new  edge  bottom  round  manger  at  fore  part 
of  main  hatch,  the  present  one  is  too  light  and  shattered.  Noon,  lat.  33° 
9'  N.,  long.  39°  38'  W.     Distance  44  miles. 

Friday,  24th  August,  1866. — Same  weather  and  showers.  Washing 
down  rails,  bulwarks  and  decks,  etc.,  twice  over,  and  ropes'  ends  overboard. 
Noon,  lat.  34°  56'  N.,  long.  39°  17'  W.  Distance  108  miles.  6  p.m.,  tacked 
again  to  north,  wind  N.  E.  by  E. ,  freshened  to  a  smart  breeze,  all  staysails  in 
and  jib  topsail.  Towards  midnight  light  breeze,  set  jib  topsail,  mainroyal, 
and  topgallant  and  middle  staysails  as  usual  when  on  a  wind.  Had  the  decks, 
etc.,  all  clean  for  oiling. 

Saturday,  25th  August,  1866. — Very  light  N.E.  wind  and  fine  clear 
weather.  A.M.,  washed  decks  and  swept  and  wiped  all  thoroughly  dry  and 
lifted  everything  possible  off  the  deck.  9  a.  m. ,  commenced  with  China  wood 
oil,  gave  two  good  coats  and  a.  third  where  it  would  take  it,  then  went  over 
all  again  a  fourth  time  with  dry  rags,  rubbing  fore  and  aft.  Used  16  gallons 
of  oil  and  one  gallon  of  raw  oil  to  finish.  Finished  all  the  decks  at 
4  p.m.,  had  a  splendid  day  of  it.  Carpenter  at  sundry  small  jobs 
aloft.  Painted  rudder-head,  tiller  and  part  of  steering  gear  green,  and  all 
under  the  monkey  poop  brown,  teak  colour  ;  also  painted  one  waterway  plank 
second  coat  of  blue,  and  commenced  to  turpentine  varnish  the  bright  work, 
viz.,  after  part  topgallant  forecastle,  foie-scuttle  stanchions,  top  of  covering 
board,  fife  rails  fore  and  aft,  round  masts,  etc.  Noon,  lat.  36°  20'  N.,  long. 
40°  I'  W.     Distance  95  miles. 


APPENDIX  xMi 

Sunday,  26th  August,  1866.— Wind  hauling  to  E.N.E.  and  east,  very 
light.     Noon,  lat.  37*  34'  N. ,  long.  40°  24'  W.     Distance  76  miles. 

Monday,  27th  August,  1866.— Same  weather.  Set  starboard  stunsails 
forward  and  main  topgallant  and  royal  stunsails,  all  other  sail  set  and  Jamie 
Green  and  jib  topsail.  Employed  scraping  remainder  of  gratings,  buckets, 
etc.  Painted  the  spare  large  spars.  Noon,  lat.  38°  52'  N.,  long.  39°  56'  W. 
Distance  84  miles.  9  p.m.,  breeze  began  to  freshen  a  little,  fine  clear  weather 
and  smooth  sea.     Midnight,  wind  S.S.W.,  going  about  6  knots. 

Tuesday,  28th  August,  1866. — Same  weather.  Similarly  employed, 
hope  to  finish  bright  work  to-morrow.  Spars  aloft,  stunsail  booms  and  yards 
still  to  clean  and  oil.  Steward  this  week  past  has  had  to  bake  bread  for  all 
hands.  We  have  three  weeks'  flour  remaining  at  full  allowance.  He  has 
cleaned  the  cabin  after  removal  of  tea,  also  pantry,  etc.  Noon,  lat.  40°  16'  N., 
long.  38*  7'  W.  Distance  124  miles.  P.M.,  7-knot  breeze  from  W.S.W. 
10.30  p.m.,  same  from  W.  by  N. 

Wednesday,  39th  August,  1866. — Light  breeze  and  clear  from  west, 
hauling  to  N.W.  and  N.N.E.  Scraping,  planning  and  oiling  spars.  Sent 
down  main  topgallant  and  royal  stunsail  booms,  planed  and  oiled  them  and 
sent  them  up  again.  Same  with  other  booms-  Painted  roof  and  inside  of 
skylight  and  all  my  cabin.  Noon,  lat.  41°  54' N.,  long.  34°  32' W.  Distance 
193  miles.  6  p.m.,  wind  shifted  from  W.N.W.,  to  N.  by  E.  suddenly;  in 
stunsails  and  braced  up.     Midnight,  moderate  north  wind  and  cloudy. 

Thursday,  30th  August,  1866. — Wind  hauling  again  to  N.W.,  west 
and  S.W.  Similarly  employed.  Noon,  lat.  43*  33'  N.,  long.  30*  46'  W. 
Distance  194  miles. 

Friday,  31st  August,  1866. — Same  weather  with  rain.  Noon,  lat. 
45*  2'  N.,  long.  27'  38'  W.  (by  account).  Distance  162  miles.  3  p.m.,  still 
raining.  Wind  hauling  to  sguth  and  S.E.  in  gusts,  in  small  sails.  7  p.m., 
wind  from  S.E.  by  E.,  getting  light  and  clearing,  made  sail.  10  p.m.,  very 
light  wind  hauling  again  to  south  and  S.S.W.  10  p.m.,  lat.  by  Pole  star 
45°  35'  N.  (45*  48'  N.  by  account).  Midnight,  light  and  freshening  S.W. 
wind.     Moon  and  stars  showing  at  times. 

Saturday,  1st  September,  1866. — Moderate  wind,  misty,  showers  from 
W.S.W.  sky  clearing  towards  10  a.m.  Noon,  lat.  46*  39'  N.,  long.  24°  3'  W. 
Distance  176  miles.  2  p.m.,  wind  hauled  to  west  and  W.N.W.  Gibed  and 
set  stunsails  port  side.  Sun  showing,  fine  moderate  breeze.  Passed  many 
outward-bound  vessels.  7  p.m.,  cloud  rose  from  north  and  wind  suddenly 
veered  from  W.N.W.  to  N.E.  by  E.,  strong  breeze  and  small  rain.  In  stun- 
sails and  small  sails  and  braced  up.  Midnight  moderate  and  clearing  from 
N.E.  by  N.  ' 

Sunday,  2nd  September,  1866.— Moderate  and  light  N.E.  north  and' 
N.W.  wind  still  hauling  to  west  and  S.W.  Stunsails,  etc.,  set  accordingly. 
Noon,  lat.  47*  22'  N.,  long.  19°  42'  W.  Distance  i8S  miles.  P.M.,  fresh 
gusts  from  south  and  S.  by  E.,  and  rain.     In  stunsails  as  the  wind  freshened. 

Monday,  3rd  September,  1866.— i  a.m.,  wind  still  freshening  with 
rain  and  squalls.     In  royals,  fore  topmast  stunsail  and  fiying  jib  at  2  a.m. 


xxxii  THE   CHINA   CLIPPERS 

5  a.m.,  in  fore  and  mizen  topgallant  sails.     5.30  a.m.,  in  main  topgallant  sail, 

6  a.m.,  in  crossjack  and  spanker  and  eased  upper  topsail  halliards.  6,30  a.m., 
rope  fore  tack  hauling  part  dragged  the  capstan  out  of  the  broken  socket; 
secured  again  with  chain  fore  tacks  to  bitts.  Gusts  very  strong.  7  a.m., 
called  all  hands,  reefed  the  mainsail  and  set  it  again.  Wind  began  to  back  again 
to  S.S.W.  and  S.W.  9  a.m.,  more  moderate  from  west,  set  all  plain  sail, 
kept  reef  in  mainsail.  Noon,  lat.  48°  58'  N.,  long.  15°  42'  W.  Distance 
192  miles.  P.M.,  set  all  starboard  stunsails  forward  and  starboard  main 
topgallant  stunsail.  Watch  got  anchors  on  the  bows  and  chains  bent  all  clear. 
Barometer  at  9  a.m.  to  5  p.m.,  2979'  steady.  Stopped  falling  but  has  not 
risen  at  all, 

Tuesday,  4th  September,  1866. — Moderate  S.W.  wind  and  rain, 
thinning  off  at  times.  All  sail  set.  7  to  10  a.m.,  very  light  wind ;  again 
freshened  with  showers.  Sun  showing  at  times.  Noon,  lat.  49°  26'  N. 
(account  49*  22'),  long.  I0°  20'  W.  (account  10°  42').  Distance  212  miles. 
Towards  sundown  more  wind  and  rain,  gusts  from  S.W.  and  thick 
gloomy  weather. 

Wednesday,  5th  September,  1866. — Same  weather  continuing.  Wind 
veering  from  S.W.  by  S.  to  W.S.W.  and  back,  with  lightning  in  the  west. 
Approaching  Scilly  Isles.  In  small  staysails,  skysail  and  topgallant  stunsails. 
1.30  a.m.,  saw  Bishop  and  St.  Agnes  Lights.  2.50  a.m.,  St.  Agnes,  distant 
about  10  miles,  bore  north  by  compass,  ship's  head  E.  by  S.  J'  S.  5.30  a.m., 
sky  cleared.  Set  all  possible  sail.  Barometer  29 '45*,  began  to  rise.  8.25 
a.m.,  Lizard  Lights  about  W.N.W.  u  miles.  Noon,  nearing  Start  Point. 
30  min.  p.m.,  the  lighthouse  bore  north,  distant  3  miles.  Hoisted  our  number. 
A  ship  since  daylight  has  been  in  company  on  starboard  quarter,  Taefing 
probably.  4.15  p.m.,  Portland  Lights  north,  distant  about  6  miles.  Have 
been  going  14  knots ;  royal  stunsails  and  all  flying  kites  set,  wind  strong  from 
W.S.W.,  hazy  but  clear  overhead.  Before  6  p.m.,  got  anchors  over,  Jamie 
Green  and  jib-topsail  unbent,  and  otherwise  all  clear  forward.  6  p.m., 
barometer  29"S9*,  rising  very  slowly.  7.25  p.m.,  St.  Catherine's  Light  north 
one  mile.  In  all  small  sails  except  fore  topmast  stunsail.  9.45  p.m.,  Owers 
Light  north  4  miles.     12.30  a.m.,  Beachy  Head  Light  north  5  miles. 

Thursday,  6th  September,  1866. — 30  min.  a.m.,  gradually  reduced  sail 
as  we  neared  Dungeness.  3  a.m.,  Dungeness  Light  N.E.  8  miles.  Up  main 
sail,  in  main  royal,  fore  and  mizen  topgallant  sails,  flying  jib  and  up  foresail. 
Sent  up  rockets  and  burned  several  blue  lights.  4  a.m.,  in  main  topgallant 
sail  and  hove  to  abreast  of  Dungeness  Light,  distant  ij  miles.  Continued  to 
make  signals  for  a  pilot.  5  a.m.,  saw  the  Taeping  running  and  also  signalling. 
Bore  up  lest  they  should  run  eastward  of  us  and  get  pilot  first.  Seeing  us 
keep  away,  they  hove  to  and  we  again  hove  to.  5.30  a.m.,  saw  two  cutters 
coming  out  of  Dungeness  Roads.  5.40  a.m.,  kept  away  so  as  to  get  between 
Taeping 3xA  the  cutters;  5.55  a.m.,  rounded  to  close  to  the  pilot  cutter  and 
got  first  pilot,  and  were  saluted  as  first  ship  from  China  this  season.  I 
replied,  "Yes,  and  what  is  that  to  the  westward?  We  have  not  room  to 
boast  yet."  Thank  God  we  are  first  up  channel  and  hove  to  for  a  pilot  an 
hour  before  him.      6  a.m.,  kept  away  for  South  Foreland  ;  set  all  plain  sail; 


4PPENDIX  M^tiij 

were  immediately  followed  by  Taeping.  They  set  also  topmast,  topgallant 
and  lower  stunsails  one  side ;  wind  slightly  quartering.  We  kept  ahead 
without  the  stunsails  or  would  also  have  set  them.  Tatping  neared  us  a  mile 
or  two  but  was  a  mile  astern  when  he  had  to  take  in  his  stunsails  (he  had 
shifted  them  to  port  side  when  hauling  up  through  the  Downs. )  Hoisted  our 
number  abreast  of  Deal.  We  were  then  fully  one  mile  ahead  of  Taepit^  and 
kept  so  till  obliged  to  take  in  all  sail  and  take  steamer  ahead.  Tatping' s  tug 
then  proved  much  better  than  ours  and  soon  towed  past  us.  I  thought  of 
taking  another  boat  but  found  there  would  be  no  need  as  far  as  docking  was 
concerned,  as  we  could  reach  Gravesend  two  or  three  hours  before  it  would  be 
possible  to  go  on  on  account  of  tide,  therefore  I  saved  the  £\o  or  £,12  asked 
by  boats.  Taeping  reached  Gravesend  55  minutes  before  us.  We  avoided 
anchoring  by  getting  a  tug  alongside  to  keep  us  astern.  Proceeded  with  first 
tug  ahead  as  the  flowing  tide  gave  us  sufficient  water  to  float,  thus  reached 
Black  wall  and  East  India  dock  entrance  at  9  p.m.  They  could  not  open  the 
gates  till  tide  rose  higher.  10.23  p-ni.,  hove  the  ship  inside  the  dock  gates. 
Taeping  had  preceded  us  up  the  river,  but  having  further  to  go,  did  not  reach 
the  entrance  of  London  docks  till  10  p.m.,  and  drawing  less  water  than  us; 
also  the  dock  having  two  gates,  they  got  her  inside  outer  gate,  shut  it  and 
allowed  the  lock  to  fill  from  the  dock,  then  opened  the  inner  gate,  so  she 
docked  some  20  minutes  before  us — the  papers  have  it  half-an-hour  for  the 
sake  of  precision — a  strong  westerly  gale  since  8  p.m. 


James  Brown  &  Son, 

Thb  Nautical  Press, 

Glasgow. 


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